The Promises of Summer
by Rose Riku
Summary: COMPLETE. AkuRoku. AU. Side dishes of SoRiku, Zemyx. Summer filled with dramatic, romantic, fluffy, sexy, and crazy surprises. WARNING: FLUFFYMUSHYGOO.
1. One: Roxas

**Well, hello there ladies and gents! This is Rose Riku (formerly known as The Infamous Villain) with a multi-chap fic for Roxas and Axel! Hooray!**

**Plot: Roxas and Axel's POVS on their Summer. Switches between Roxas and Axel POVs every chapter. Drama ensues, as well as humor, and most importantly ROMANCE. AU.**

**Warning: Fluff, Yaoi, Fluff, SEXUAL CONTENT THAT IS NOT SUITABLE FOR... most people, Some Angst Thrown in There, AU!**

**Main Pairings: Axel and Roxas. Sora and Riku. Side Dishes: Cloud and Leon. Demyx and Zexion. (Also some random one-sided things.) Also Hints of: Demyx and Axel. Riku and Roxas. Sora and Kairi. Maybe more... I don't particularly plan these things.**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Kingdom Hearts - there would be a _lot_ more action between Axel and Roxas. A lot more. -wink-**

**Enjoy. Review. Be Happy. Be Merry. AND CHECK OUT MY YOUTUBE! THE LINK IS ON MY PROFILE! I HAVE AN AKUROKU VID UP! YAY!**

**The Promises of Summer**

**Chapter One: Since He Took The Hit For Me**

**Point of View: Roxas**

I couldn't look away from the clock. I don't think anyone in the room could - let alone the school. I even saw Mr. Vexen staring at it from the corner of his eye. He was probably thinking '_Yes! Last day of dealing with these brats for TWO WHOLE MONTHS! Now I can watch the Sci-Fi channel until the crack of dawn EVERY DAY!_'

Actually, I'm _positive_ that's what he was thinking.

I felt a hand gently touch my elbow - it pulled me away from my thoughts, and it pulled my eyes away from the ticking clock.

"We're all going clubbing tonight. Leon can get us in. You good with that?" My brother, Sora - who was in my class - leaned in to ask me. His voice was a mere whisper since we weren't suppose to be talking. Vexen had a stick up his ass and he didn't approve of any students merely _smiling_ in his presence.

We had gone clubbing several times before thanks to Leon. Leon _always_ got us in. And the same group of us would always go. It would be Leon, Cloud, Sora, Riku, Demyx, Axel, and me. Kairi and Namine would always beg to tag along - but we always found some excuse for them not to be able to. They came with us once, and oh my God, what a horrible experience!

It was last year after the Homecoming dance. The gang wanted to go clubbing because they didn't feel that Homecoming was 'fun' enough. I was the only one who claimed to be tired. The truth was - I was never much of a partier. I will proudly say how shy I am and how embarrassed I get at the simplest comments from people. When it comes to dancing - it's impossible for me. Completely impossible. My face gets all red and I get all stupid. Whether it's a boy or a girl coming on to me (yes, I am bisexual) I turn into a pile of mush and make a fool of myself. But I'm getting off topic here…

Kairi and Namine got so completely drunk that they literally tried raping us. They failed. Kairi got closest though by having a twenty-minute make out session with Sora - until she puked in his mouth anyway. Now Sora's dating Riku - so if they _did_ go and Kairi tried that again… she probably wouldn't survive the night. Riku would burn her alive. Namine only got so far as to kissing me and very awkwardly trying to rip my pants off in the middle of the club. I had never been so frightened in my life. It made it _that_ much more funny. And it got funnier when I grabbed _her_ purse off of her arm and knocked her out with it.

Good times. Can't wait to do it again.

"Oh yeah. Perfect." I smiled at my brother. I never understood why I always went with them.

…Or maybe I did, and I just didn't feel like admitting it.

"Axel going?" I asked him as casually as I could. I held my breath a little and bit the inside of my cheek.

"Why wouldn't he?" Sora asked me, his head cocked to the side like a puppy.

I ignored his question. "So he's going then?"

Before Sora could reply I felt a prickle on the side of my neck. Someone was staring at me.

Turning my head slightly, I realized it was just Mr. Vexen - giving us what he considered was a death glare. To me, he just looked constipated.

Sora saw Vexen's glare as well, so he just gave me a brief nod and turned his head back to the clock.

God, that stupid clock. _Tick-tick, tick-tick._

Two minutes until freedom.

I felt anxious. I wanted to _move_. I felt stiff and over-heated.

I slid my hand into the pocket of my skinny jeans - eyes never leaving the clock. Seventy-five more seconds until freedom.

Most of the class was leaning on their elbows, staring at the second hand making it's way around the face of the clock - just like I was.

Sixty seconds.

Most people were gradually easing themselves up - ready to pounce after the first millisecond of a millisecond of the ring of the bell. I was one of those people.

Thirty seconds.

I couldn't breathe. In thirty seconds it would be the end of my junior year.

Twenty seconds.

I swear I could hear Pence panting behind me. I guessed he was already half standing. But I didn't bother to look.

Ten seconds.

Oh my God. I'm going to explode. Everyone's shuffling in their seats. I'm surprised no one has spontaneously combusted yet.

Five seconds.

Four.

Three.

Two.

…

One.

Sure enough, before the sound of the bell could even reach my ears completely - I felt vibrations from the floor tingling my entire body. Everyone was up and running.

I was officially a senior.

And it was officially Summer.

"Come on, Roxas! What are you waiting for?!" I heard my older brother shout before he grabbed my sleeve and dragged me along into the crowd of crazed teenagers.

I felt totally lost in the sea of people. The sight of hundreds of happy heads bobbing to the door - making a run for it. Not a single person felt like taking their time - they were either speed walking, jogging, or full-blown BOOKING IT! The smell of cologne and perfume mingled amongst all the students and ended up attacking my nose. The sound of excited shrieks clogged my ears. The feeling of anxious bodies running into me and just barely not knocking me over made me feel like we were all one family. I could almost taste the Summer air on my tongue. The light of the open door was so close.

My senses were overwhelming me. The butterflies in my stomach weren't helping either. My pulse was racing and I had to work hard not to just start sprinting.

"I see Riku. I'm gonna get a ride home from him, 'kay? I'll meet you at home!" A cheerful Sora informed me before bounding off to his silver-haired boyfriend. I just smiled after him. He really _did_ love Riku.

Before I knew it, I was breathing in fresh air. The air of Summer - a Summer that I wanted to be the best. This would be my final Summer of high school. After these two single months I would go through my senior year - and from there my future would unfold.

I planned on being a writer. It was just always something I wanted to do. Words were my art - the only way I could express myself. There were over a hundred stories typed out on my computer at home. Some of them had been worked on since I was ten years old. My dream was to get my favorite stories out of that collection published - and I was confident that that dream would come true.

"Roxy!" A familiar voice touched my ears and dragged me away from all my thoughts.

Axel.

"Did you know that you are my most favorite person in the whole entire universe? You are the most awesome, most cool, most amaz-" The redhead sucked up to me. He always did when he wanted something.

"What can I do for you _now_, Sir?" I asked him with sarcasm - interrupting him. He was always wanting me to give him rides, buy him things, lie for him, or just do something stupid that I would later regret.

Axel never acted his age. He was a senior, almost nineteen. Too bad for him - he didn't get enough credits so he still couldn't graduate. He would have to take the year over again. Although I can't say I was disappointed when I learned that - he'd get to be in my class and we would graduate together.

He always seemed a bit immature, but with a mysterious air around him. Like he was sharing an inside joke with himself all the time. He was way too outgoing and hyper all the time. I never once saw him cry or get sad. He did have a bit of a temper though, which led him to sometimes making rash and idiotic decisions over minor things. But he _was_ my best friend - and had been for four years. Whatever stupid things he did - I overlooked it.

"Well I was wondering if you could give me a ride to the club tonight. You know you want to. If you don't - I won't be able to go! And what fun would it be without me there?" His typical grin followed his question. He knew I couldn't say no to that face.

"Sure." Was all I had to say for him to practically molest me in response. He jumped on me, wrapping his strong arms around my torso. He squeezed me so tight that I wondered if my head would pop off. "You know, I can't give you a ride if you kill me…" I managed to say.

"Oops! Sorry, Sexy." As quick as he jumped on me, he jumped off. I felt an immediate relief to be able to breathe - but I kind of missed his bear hug.

"Talking about me?" Demyx asked, seeming to pop up out of nowhere.

"Ha ha. You _wish_ you were as sexy as my Roxy." Axel joked, nudging me in the side as he spoke. I half-smiled. My friends were always as stupid as this.

"That I do, Axe. That I do." The mullet-head raised his eyebrows at Axel. "And do you know _why _I wish I was _half_ as sexy as Blondie?"

"Why is that, Sitar-Man?" Questioned Axel. Sitar-Man had kind of become Demyx's stupid nickname a couple years back when we were all sitting around at school when the song Guitar Man came on over Demyx's iPod. The rest was history.

"Because then I would get more attention from _you_!" The blonde practically cooed - smiling so big that his eyes had to close. It slightly sickened me.

Demyx was one of my closest friends. We had also hung out since my freshman year - he was a grade higher than me though. He had his graduation ceremony a week back - and was officially done with high school. I always thought his hair was ridiculous - but if he didn't have it styled like that, then he wouldn't _be_ Demyx. He was a funny guy - and he played some mean sitar. But there was one thing that just irked me about him:

He _always_ flirted with Axel.

"Then keep dreaming, Dem-Dem." Smiled Axel at Mullet-Head. He said it in such a charming way, that I knew Demyx wouldn't even take it as a partial insult.

"I shall, my prince. One day you will realize that Blondie can never love you like I can!" Recited Demyx dramatically, holding a hand to his heart as Axel slung his arm around me and got ready to start walking away.

"You're such a psycho." Laughed the redhead. And he was right, Demyx was a psycho.

"See you guys at the club later!" He said in a sing-song voice before skipping away. It was so horridly obvious how completely gay Demyx was. Sometimes I wondered if he was female.

"Ignore Demyx. He's a silly fool." I heard Axel tell me after we were about to reach my car in the parking lot. His arm was still draped around my shoulder.

I kind of just looked at him. What did he expect as a response to that? _Oh, sure, Axe. I'll just ignore him._ Like I cared. He was like that every day. "Is he _really_ obsessed with you, or is he just being stupid?" Was what I ended up asking - trying to just sound like a curious friend. Which I totally was.

"Well…" Started Axel, as I slid out from under his arm so I could walk around to the driver's side. I glanced at him to let him know I was still paying attention as I opened the car door and plopped into my seat. He soon was in the seat next to me.

I loved the smell of Kenny. Kenny was the name of my bright blue Buick. I know that Kenny is a stupid name - but I decided to name him that after he died the first three times. I used to watch South Park all the time - and Kenny was always dying in the show. Hence the retarded name of my car. But Kenny was like my home, and I loved him. I never wanted to get another car. I had too many memories in this one.

"He has told me before… that he seriously had a thing for me. But you know how Demyx is… he's so boy crazy." Rolling his eyes, Axel leaned over to grab his seat belt after watching me buckle mine.

I looked straight ahead as I stuck the keys in the ignition. "Do you… have a thing for _him_?" I asked, trying my hardest to keep my voice straight.

Axel didn't reply to my question right away - which made me nervous. He took his sweet old time buckling himself first. I started up Kenny and began to back out of my parking spot. I hoped my anxiousness didn't show.

"Course not. Demyx is just my friend." He finally responded, making the idea sound ridiculous.

I sighed in relief.

"Not that… I don't like him _because_ he's my friend. I just mean that's all I see him as." He was ever-so-slightly rambling.

"O…kay." I answered him, looking both ways at the street in front of me as I put on my blinker to turn.

"Because dating friends isn't… weird. Is it?" He asked me suddenly, uncertainly.

My heart stopped.

"Are you… dating one of our friends?" I asked him, hoping to God that it wasn't Larxene. I hated that stupid tramp. I was only nice to her because Axel was nice to her. "Don't tell me it's Larxene!" I shouted. "Or Marluxia…" I paused. "Although I _thought_ he was with…"

"Roxas!" Axel called my name out loudly, laughing. "I'm not dating anyone."

"…Oh." I said, feeling my face get hot. I got so stupid when I was worked up. I blurted out crap.

It was silent between us for a couple of minutes - which wasn't normal.

"But no. It's not weird." It was a delayed answer, but it saved the silence.

"What's not weird?" He asked me, sounding confused. He had such a short attention span.

I just sighed, about to give up.

"Oh! _Dating friends _isn't weird." He grinned at me, shining his perfect smile. I wondered how he had such white teeth with all the junk food he ate.

"Why would it be weird? Think of Riku and Sora." I told him. "They were _best, best_ friends - and now they are totally in love!" I realized I sounded a bit girly as I told him this, but I didn't care.

I could see Axel nod in the corner of my eye. "You're right." He told me. Like I didn't know that.

Then something else hit me. "Are you _thinking_ of dating one of our friends?"

There was a red light that I had to stop at. It gave me the chance to look at my friend's expression. I noticed he was blushing.

Damn. He had a crush on someone. Someone that _I_ knew. I needed to get the name from him - so I could 'accidentally' kill them before he had the chance to date them.

The thing about my best friend was that…

I was totally in love with him.

This was something I had realized only a week or so earlier. It started when I accidentally bumped into Seifer - one of our class jerks - and made him drop all of his crap in the hallway. He was never good with his temper - someone would say one little thing wrong and he would threaten to slit their throat. Well, instead of threatening to slit my throat - he just threw a history text book at my face (and believe me, those things are _huge_). It flew through the air - coming right at me. And so, my life kind of flashed before my eyes for a second, and then I realized I was being shoved to the floor from my right. And by the time I saw what was going on, Axel was clutching the side of his head and Seifer looked a bit confused.

He had totally just taken the hit for me, and for some reason... that moment was when I realized I cared about him as much more than a friend.

But he couldn't know it. I was too afraid to ever admit anything. If I ruined our friendship - my life would be over. He wasn't just a _crush_. And he wasn't just my _friend_. He just felt like so much more than anything to me. It was a very complicated feeling. That's why I knew I couldn't take the risk of losing him.

"Who is it?" I asked him a tad bit hastily, as I slammed on my gas just a bit too hard when the light turned green.

"I didn't say-" He started, sounding totally innocent. He was good at doing that.

"_Who_ is it?" Again, I asked. We were about a minute away from his house.

"No one." He blushed, still. I could hardly believe he was blushing. It made me so unbelievably…

Jealous.

"You're a damn bad liar." I hissed at him.

"Why are you getting so pissed?" Axel asked me suddenly, sounding irritated.

"Why aren't you telling me who it is? You tell me _everything_." Now I found _myself_ getting irritated. He had never hesitated on telling me his crushes before. Or anything else for that matter.

"It may seem like it Roxas - but I really don't tell you _every_ single aspect of my life." He bitterly informed me.

I had to admit, it was like a punch to the face. I know that I told _him_ everything.

…Well, except for the fact that I was head over heels for him.

But that didn't count. Did it?

Without really realizing it, I had parked in Axel's driveway. And I couldn't find any words to say to him.

"I will see you at the club later. I think I'll have Demyx give me a ride. Save you the trouble." Axel spoke again, unbuckling and opening his door. I knew he was very upset with me, and I wasn't fully sure why. He was being so touchy all of a sudden - he usually wasn't like that.

Something was wrong. And it pissed me off.

"Why don't you get your _own_ car and save _everyone_ the trouble?" Hissing under my breath, I didn't really think he would hear me. But I realized he did - as he slammed the door behind him.

Shit.

Axel and I got into bickering arguments every so often. This was one of them. But this one felt a little different.

Usually, I didn't feel this _hurt_.

I had just learned a couple of very depressing things. One would be that Axel doesn't tell me everything. There could be amazing (or heartbreaking) secrets that he's keeping from me. I never, ever expected him to be keeping things from me. He was my best friend!

And two, would be that he has an apparently huge crush on one of our friends. And he wouldn't tell me who it was. He wouldn't even let me play a guessing game - like we used to do. Every time he has liked someone before, he would just sit down and be like "Okay! Start guessing!" With a smile plastered on his face.

Now he was all tense and worked up, and driving me insane.

I pulled out of his driveway a bit angrily. I decided to take the long way home and blast the radio - so I could think.

~_~_~

"Sora!" I called as soon as I entered our house. I realized I had slammed the door behind me way too hard.

"What's wrong?" He asked me with concern. I guessed he could tell I was upset just from my tone of voice.

"Does Axel like anyone?" Hoping he would know anything, I had to try asking.

My ten-month-older brother looked at me like I was crazy, before bursting out laughing.

I stared at him impatiently until he calmed down. I certainly didn't see what was so funny.

"Roxas!" Sora giggled some more. "He likes _you_."

It was official that my brother was bonkers.

I turned to go up the stairs.

"Rox - I'm being serious." He ceased his laughter immediately. I had to look at him. "It's so _obvious_. In fact, I thought you guys were secretly together or something. I mean… the way he _looks_ at you…"

Now Sora was looking at _me_ like I was an idiot.

Which, I probably was.

"Axel said he likes one of our friends." I told Sora, realizing my voice sounded pitifully upset. I knew that Axel didn't actually come out and _say_ it. But he didn't deny it - which was just as good as saying it.

"…Oh." Replied my brother, sounding a bit shocked. "I was almost positive…" He mumbled.

"Well, obviously you were wrong." There was bitterness bordering my words.

"Sorry baby brother!" Grinned Sora. "But to make it up to you - I will _personally_ find out who this 'friend' is that Axel likes - tonight. Sound good?"

I just shrugged, doubting that Sora could accomplish such a task. Especially if _I_ couldn't.

"Oh by the way!" Sora blurted randomly. "Dad said that there's a wiring problem in the house. He said for me to tell you about something… about not starting your computer when something's on in the kitchen… or something… because something overheats and it could cause, like, a fire or something…"

"Yeah, thanks for the detailed message." I told my idiotic brother sarcastically. "Is anything on in the kitchen?"

"No." He informed me after poking his head into the kitchen.

"Then, good. Don't turn anything on in there." Warning him, I turned away.

"Yep." I heard my brother say.

Without any more words being exchanged, I made my way up the stairs to my room. I had to get ready for the club, after all.

Although now, I was debating if going was the right idea. Even if I _did_ find out Axel's crush - I wasn't sure what I would benefit from it.

Glancing at the clock, I noticed it was only four. I had a while before we went clubbing - so I decided to sit down at my computer and work on some of my writing. It was like my meditation. It _always _made me feel better when I was in one of my moods.

Which I most certainly was.

Thanks, Axel.

* * *

**Wow, so there was the starter chapter. This story has become my baby and you should see updates pretty fast - but if my updates do end up being slow, I promise you now that I am just busy and in no way neglecting the story. I also promise that I will not put this on hiatus.**

**Next chapter we get to see Axel's POV! Isn't that exciting?! I think it is. :P**

**I warn you, though... the next chapter may have a bit of angst. Actually, make that the next couple of chapters. -giggle-**

**But I promise you there will be fluff! **

**So review and I'll thank you on my next chapter's Author's Note. Kay? **

**HAPPY TRAILS! **

**-- Rose Riku. (:**

* * *


	2. Two: Axel

**Back again for the second installment. This one is twice as long - hope you like it. ;)**

**I'm not gonna bother with disclaimers and whatnot. **

**Only warning is offensive swearing - big deal. xD**

**THANKS TO: spoons and thedeviltheangelandtheme - yes. that's all. I WOULD LOVE MORE!**

**Here it is...  
**

* * *

**The Promises of Summer**

**Chapter Two: Sweeter Than Cherry Coke**

**Point of View: Axel  
**

As I was walking down the stairs to go wait for Demyx to come pick me up - I realized how painfully tight my jeans were. I felt like I had fucking tourniquets covering both my legs or something!

I would have gone right back up the stairs to change into something just a little looser, if Sitar-Man didn't pull in my driveway at that exact moment. I knew the dude absolutely _hated_ to wait for people - so I just decided I would have to live with numb legs for the night. Besides… I looked totally _sexy_. And the baggy, black Hollywood Undead sweatshirt I was wearing with it made me look even _sexier._

Although I guess it didn't matter _what_ I looked like if Roxas was going to be ignoring me. And I was pretty positive he would - because that's how my little blonde friend was. God, it was _so annoying_.

…And yet, I always forgave him.

Ever since I got out of his car just hours earlier - I couldn't stop thinking about how pissed he had gotten over nothing. I didn't understand why he thought I had to tell him every little detail of my life - like he was my mother or something.

Although, to be quite honest, I _did_ tell him pretty much everything - except for the fact that I had been in love with him for as long as I could remember.

But telling him _that_ would be just plain stupid.

I jumped into Demyx's car, not bothering to buckle like I would in Kenny - Roxas's baby. I realized how much warmer it was inside the vehicle, it was pretty chilly out for a Summer night.

"And… why exactly couldn't 'Oh Sexy One' give you a ride?" Asked Demyx, although he didn't sound displeased as he spun out of my drive way.

One reason why I preferred Roxas driving me places over Demyx driving me places was because Demyx was a _mad man_. He _never_ looked at the damn road when he was supposed to and he was always slamming on the fucking gas. I was pretty sure that my death would be his fault - and it would be in the near future.

"Cause… we got into a little… argument." I told him, my head high. I didn't want him to think I cared. I wanted to seem like I felt as if it was no big deal.

Even though in reality - I was more than a little upset. That stupid blonde did _not_ know the daily pain he caused me. _Every_ time we got into a fight it put me in a sour mood - I just didn't show it.

"Uh oh. What about?" The mullet-haired idiot asked me in a voice that screamed how much of a homo he was.

"Oh just stupid shit." I replied as I felt the car practically fly in the air from hitting a bump. "What the fuck was that?" I asked him suddenly.

Demyx looked behind him and then turned to face me, he didn't look at the road before him. "Poor little pussycat." He said, not sounding sad at all.

I sighed.

"And clarify 'stupid shit' for me. Would you please?" Begged Dem-Dem, not seeming to even feel slightly guilty over the fact that he just ended a little kitty's life.

I knew that in all honesty, he couldn't give a flying fuck about the argument between me and Roxas. The only thing that he saw out of it was the slight hope that he now had a chance of fucking me. Right… like I wanted an STD.

"Just stupid shit, Dem. Don't fucking worry about it." Tossing both my feet on the dashboard and leaning back in the leather seat, I basically ordered him to drop the subject. He knew it.

"You have very, very nice pants." He said randomly.

"I know. They hurt like hell." I told him truthfully, pulling on a strand of my gel-coated hair.

"Don't get a boner." Teased the sandy-haired loser.

"Oh don't worry, I won't be talking to Roxas much tonight. He's mad at me, remember?" I said slyly. Proving to him once more that I only cared for Roxas.

"Touche. That hurt… on the inside." Replied Demyx, before he started making fake crying sounds. I wanted to slug him. But Demyx was a good friend to have. I could basically tell him anything - even if I _did_ treat him like an ass occasionally.

And when I say occasionally, I mean all the time.

"We're here!" Cheered Demyx suddenly - instantly ceasing his fake sobs, as we pulled into the familiar parking lot.

I saw lots of tarty people hanging around the front doors. Every single one of them looked like fucking prostitutes, on drugs, and wearing clown make-up. Even the dudes.

…And then I saw a group of dorks.

"HI GUYS!" Shouted Sora from said group. He skipped over to the car and tapped his hand on my window - beaming.

I unlocked the door and pushed it open. "Yo." I said to Sora.

"You guys are _soooo_ late. Hurry up! Let's get inside!" The brunette screeched like a five year old to Demyx and I before bounding off to his boyfriend. I swear to fucking God, that they were _never_ apart. I was one hundred percent sure that they totally banged every fucking day.

I followed after Sora, and I felt Demyx following right behind me. It would be the same routine it always was when we came here.

We would all walk in as a giant group. Leon and Cloud would be at the front and talk to a couple of the guys that were standing near the doors - ready to card everyone. A few words would be exchanged and then we would all be free to enter and party as long as we pleased.

Tonight was no different than any of those other times. Just as soon as we were standing in the cool night breeze, we were inside the steamy club. People crowded the floor and I could feel the vibrations of music pulsing through my body. I watched the crew in front of me.

Leon and Cloud stood at the front - our leaders. Leon stood confident-looking with his long, spiky brunette hair and his usual leather jacket. He had his smirk on his face. He definitely looked like a cocky bastard. Especially with his totally sexy boy-toy standing next to him. Cloud currently had one of his pale hands nestled in his gravity-defying hair. He wore all black with chains and looked completely badass.

Behind Leon and Cloud was Sora and Riku. They were looking at each other and laughing about something. I was guessing it was probably something really fucking retarded. They laughed at everything. One time there was this kid in our geometry class who got his pencil stuck in the sharpener (what a dumbass) and he kept yelling, "I can't get it out! It's stuck!" And Sora and Riku would crack up like idiots and yell "That's what _he_ said!" Everyone wanted to hit them.

But behind Sora and Riku stood Demyx, talking with Roxas. My jaw wanted to hit the floor when I actually saw what he was wearing.

The short blonde was wearing a tight, white wife beater that showed how cute his little torso was. Covering his very attractive legs was a pair of dark blue denim skinny jeans that clung to him in all the right places. The whole outfit was topped off perfectly with his typical black and white Converse.

God, how I wanted to fucking bone him. I almost forgot how pissed I was at him.

I tried to look away from my best friend. I wanted to at least _try _to have some fun. And the perfect place to start would be the bar.

I could use me some vodka.

Sitting on a leather stool, I ordered what I wanted from the bartender. The very _hot_ bartender. In all honesty, I definitely liked guys better - but this chick was absolutely _sexy_ (although not as sexy as Roxas). She had blonde hair that framed her face and curves that could kill a man.

"Here you go, Sweetie. You here alone?" The hot bartender asked me, winking.

Before I replied I happened to notice that Roxas was looking my way and I decided I wanted to play it like a girl.

"Not for long I hope." I winked back at the stranger, throwing the burning alcohol back in as much of a charming way that I could.

I still felt eyes on me like they were burning holes in my head. I smirked.

"I'm taking my break!" This woman called to someone in the other room. I was secretly thinking of how perfect this was turning.

Let's just say - within minutes - her and I were dancing on the floor like wild animals and making out all over the place.

And I kept peaking at Roxas every minute or so. It might have been my imagination, but he looked like he was steaming. It was pure greatness.

And the chick I was with definitely knew what she was doing - which made everything _that_ much better. I was in heaven.

What a perfect way to start off the Summer.

For pretty much the entire time I had known Roxas - I was always trying to make him fucking jealous. I loved the feeling of someone being jealous because they wanted me. And if it was Roxas - it was even _better_. I couldn't count how many times I would date so and so, or tell said blonde that I had a _huge_ crush on so and so, or that I made out with so and so - just so I could see his reaction. Most of the time he just seemed to act excited and happy for me. But lately, I've noticed a little glint in his eyes, or a twitch of his lips that told me he was _far_ from happy or excited. They were the looks that gave me hope. So when I saw his face go red with anger - if only for a moment - my heart soared.

Good fucking Lord, I was starting to think like Demyx. I guessed this was how Demyx was with me. I hoped I was wrong.

My mind kept wandering endlessly as this blonde chick and I did our thing until eventually, a slow song came on and this mysterious woman told me that she had to get back to work. She told me how much fun I was and that she would be 'working the taps' all night if I needed her. And then it was over.

By then, I looked back over at Roxas. I was in a bloody _amazing_ mood. I was slightly buzzed and ready for more partying.

And he looked like complete shit.

I sighed. I supposed it would have to be me to make the apology this time - usually _he_ was the one who snapped first, but I was in a good mood anyway. So I decided I would fix us up.

So I started walking towards him and the second I knew he was looking directly at me I beamed him my most charming smile. He gave me a half of one back - but I could tell he looked a little miffed. Roxas never usually seemed in a good mood when we went clubbing anyway. He always seemed to just stand there and watch us all have fun. Poor kiddo.

So, I had a spring in my step and I was even thinking of just giving him a big old bear hug when suddenly a drunken Demyx was in my way.

How he had gotten drunk so quickly I wasn't sure - but he looked way more wasted than that time Kairi and Namine came with us. I cringed at the memory.

"RRRrrroxas!" I heard him greet my friend.

"Hi Dem." Roxas greeted him back, sounding a little annoyed at Demyx's state.

"Whyyyy do yoooouuu stand here…" He burped. "Stand here? Doing nothing? Like a loooooser?!" Asked Mullet-Brain obnoxiously.

I decided to watch the conversation unfold instead of getting in the middle of it.

"Why do _you_ get drunk and act like an idiot?" Shot back Roxas. It was weird - he usually wasn't much for comebacks.

"Touche!" Screeched Dem. "_But_ why are _you_ standing here getting pissed at me when you're just jealous of Axel getting action with someone who isn't _yooouuu_?"

I tried not to laugh or Roxas would know I was intently listening. So it wasn't just _me_ who noticed him steaming over my hot session with the stranger.

"Hey, Demyx! Did you know that Marluxia has a secret crush on you?! He's standing right over there and he's looking to get laid!" Roxas told Demyx randomly, acting like his best friend.

Demyx immediately perked up. "Where?"

"There. Now go." Pointing across the room, Roxas grinned.

Skipping in a drunken way, Demyx was away to go molest the pink-haired man. I watched Demyx for a minute - positive that he was about to go make a fool of himself.

"Nice one, Rox." I smiled, trying to sound casual as I strode up to my friend.

He gave me an annoyed look. "You're just mad because you didn't think of it first."

"You're right. I am." Rubbing a hand on the back of my neck, I studied him.

Roxas almost always had his head down. He could be a depressing little thing. His messy blonde hair framed his face and brought out his eyes. It had only been a few hours of us not fighting and I decided I never wanted to argue with him again.

I was just about to apologize about earlier, but he opened his mouth first.

"So did Yuri get sick of you or something?" He asked me.

"Yuri?" I had no idea who the hell he was talking about.

Now he sounded really irritated with me. "Yuri. The chick you were _making out with_, you retard. Do you _always _just fool around with strangers?"

"Jesus. Stop being so anal! We were just fucking dancing - having _fun. _Ever heard of it? You should try it for once." I suggested. I decided I didn't want to apologize after all - he had a stick up his ass at the moment and I was more in the mood to shove it up further than to slowly pull it out. He was killing my mood - _again_. I didn't even bother to ask how he knew Yuri.

"Because molesting strangers sounds like a blast." Sarcasm dripped off of every word Roxas said.

"What the fuck is _with_ you tonight? Has the idea that you're going to be a senior in a couple months got you high strung or something?" I asked him. Roxas really _was_ acting way stranger than usual. He seemed like a PMSing bitch to me. A very cute PMSing bitch.

Good fucking God, my hormones always got the best of me. How annoying.

"No! And there is _nothing_ with me tonight. It's just that I'm starting to realize how idiotic my friends are!" Now, he was yelling at me. And I had an urge to knock him out.

"Oh well… if you're so fucking smart… then why are you _here_, Einstein? Why are you even fucking _here_ with your dumbass friends? Since we're just so retarded and all." Although it was pretty painful in the pants I was wearing, I turned away from him speedily. I didn't want to hear another word from him. He was being such a little asshole.

I wished he was acting like the _usual_ Roxas.

I decided I would go talk to Sora and Riku. My mood was officially spoiled and I didn't feel like dancing anymore.

As I was making my way through the crowd to reach the silver and brown haired boys - I heard someone shout "Get the _fuck_ off me, you fag!" When I looked over I realized it was Marluxia's voice - and Demyx was on the floor.

I wanted to go run to Roxas and tell him the entertainment he created. I wanted to high five him and start laughing my ass off.

I wanted to… but I couldn't. He was being so damn complicated.

"Hey Axel." Sora greeted me once I reached him and his boyfriend.

"Hey." I greeted back, my eyes still attached to the Marluxia and Demyx scene.

"I take it Sitar-Man got drunk off his ass again." Riku guessed.

"What else?" Chuckling, I pulled my attention away from Marluxia's pink and fluffy hair. Although it _was_ an amusing scene.

"Where's Roxas?" Asked Roxas's brother.

"Standing. Being a boring, high-strung, asshole somewhere." I told him in a monotone voice.

"Looks like he's drinking like a fish, to me." Piped in Riku.

I didn't believe it. Roxas hated alcohol.

Turning my head, I saw that Riku was indeed not on crack or anything - because I saw it too.

There was my little blondie, getting _completely_ shit-faced. Shot after shot of something that looked like straight gin, he swallowed it all down.

Even _I_ couldn't drink like that. His eyes weren't even watering!

"_Axel!_ What did you say to him?!" The brunette had wide, unbelieving eyes that stared at me in accusation.

I was just in as much disbelief as he was.

I told him in a very shocked and stumped voice. "Nutt'n."

"He better not puke anywhere in the house later…" Sora commented, scrunching up his face.

I rolled my eyes.

So maybe this _wasn't_ the greatest way to start the Summer.

I knew Roxas would be very, very sick in a short time. His body wasn't use to any alcohol consumption. He was just asking for it.

"Go get him to stop." I told Sora, figuring Roxas would be practically dead later if he didn't stop soon.

"No way! I have never seen my brother get drunk before. This could end up _hysterical_!" Laughing, Sora seemed to really not want to help.

"Sora, he could get some fucking serious alcohol poisoning. And he has a small body." I told him seriously.

"He's right." Riku spoke up.

Just because Riku agreed - Sora had to agree. So off he went to go get Roxas to lay off the drinks.

I realized I was biting my non-existent nails.

"You totally love him." The silver-haired teen informed me, as if I didn't already know that.

I totally already knew that.

I just looked at him and blinked, before turning my attention back to Sora and Roxas. My nails were still in my mouth. It was a disgusting habit, but I did it when I was nervous. Which I was.

I watched as Sora and Roxas exchanged some words. Sora looked amused, but slightly big-brother like - while Roxas just looked kind of confused.

Their conversation went on for several minutes - but Roxas's drinking did seem to stop. That fact alone filled me with immense relief. I didn't want the little brat to _kill_ himself after all.

Eventually, after more of Riku and I's silence passed, Roxas was being dragged by Sora back over to us. I watched as Roxas stumbled a little. He looked pale and not very happy.

"Your brother totally overdid it." Stated Riku once both of them had reached us.

Roxas just gave him a funny look.

"If you really want to, you can go home Rox. You look awful." Spoke Sora with a concerned voice. "…But there's no way in hell you're driving."

Roxas gave him an exasperated look. "Believe it or not…" The blonde started, sounding a little distant. "I'm not _wasted_. I just feel sick." He sighed.

I almost wanted to laugh at him.

"Well apparently you have some godlike alcohol tolerance. I would be passed out by now." I spoke up without realizing it.

The look he gave me then sent chills down my spine. I really didn't understand what I had done to him to get him so pissed at me. I decided to chalk it off to the fact that he was just in an all-around pissy mood. That I hoped he would get over.

"You haven't drank much tonight, have you?" Roxas's older brother asked me.

I shook my head no. I had only had that one quick shot.

"Then can you _please_ drive Roxas home? I don't want him to hit a tree or a truck or fly off a cliff." Sora asked me, looking at his little brother with concern.

I would have agreed for a few reasons. One would be that I didn't want Roxas to kill himself, either. Another would be that Sora hardly asked me for favors - and I didn't feel like being an ass and telling him no. A third reason would be that I just wanted to actually get to _drive_ a car. I had my license - I just didn't own any type of vehicle. So whenever I got the chance - I _loved_ to drive.

Before I could even think of opening my mouth, though, Roxas butt in angrily.

"No. I'm fine. I can stay here and let it wear off. I can drive _myself_ home - just fine." He hissed. With every word he spoke, it was dragged out slowly. He definitely had some alcohol in him - but I was very surprised with how well he held it together.

"Why are you all upset tonight?" Sora asked his sibling. "What's wrong?"

I could very clearly see the distinct look Roxas gave Sora as if to say: "You know what's wrong!"

I could tell Sora had caught that look, too. He blinked a couple of times but then his face relaxed a bit in understanding.

I wondered what the bloody fucking hell was going on. I was starting to get really pissed again.

It wasn't until after Riku, Sora, and Roxas were staring at me that I realized I must have asked out loud, "What the hell is going on?"

"Just shut up, Axel. It doesn't matter." Bitched Roxas.

Riku spoke before I got the chance. "You're just jealous about something (or someone)… aren't you?"

No one said anything.

"And it freaks you out, so you get all pissed about it." Continued Riku. "Because you never expected to get jealous over … this certain person. And you can't handle it."

I could hear the slight mocking tone in Riku's voice. He sounded cocky and like he knew he had Roxas pegged.

I just wanted to know who the fuck he was talking about. I felt a clench in my chest at the idea of Roxas being jealous over someone that wasn't me - _wait a minute_ - was it _me_?

"No one asked you." My blonde friend stated to Riku with his teeth bared.

"I didn't need to be asked." The silver-haired boy replied smugly.

Roxas groaned and turned to head back to the bar. I wasn't thinking and I ended up grabbing his upper arm to restrain him.

He ripped his arm away from me. "Let go of me, Dumbass."

"There you go… calling me a dumbass again." Sighing, I didn't even try to grab his arm again. If he wanted to get wasted and pass out - that was fine with me, I no longer cared.

"Well you _do_ have to repeat senior year." He slurred a bit, but his point was made.

I was just completely annoyed with his crap, so I shoved him.

The blonde stumbled a bit and then glared at me before shoving me right back. I bumped into Sora and Sora looked at us like we were crazy.

I could see Riku holding in a chuckle.

"Why are you being such a dick?" I shouted at him. If it _was_ me and that girl he was jealous over - I wanted him to admit it. But even if it _wasn't_ me - then I still wanted to know who the hell it was.

"Why aren't you leaving me alone?" Asked Roxas, shouting back.

"Why do you have to be an emo bitch?" I hissed.

Before Roxas could make a decent comeback, Sora's phone went off. The tune of _Soldier Boy_ mingled with the loud banging of the club music. I was surprised I had heard it.

"Shut up for two seconds you guys, I don't recognize this number." He informed us.

Obediently, we shut up for two seconds as he took the call. He held the phone to his ear, while his other ear was covered with his hand so he could hear better.

At first, I didn't pay much attention. I figured it would be one of those annoying telemarkers that - I have no idea how they get your number - call you and ask you to buy stupid shit that you would _never_ in your life ever need or want. But after I realized about two minutes had passed in silence, I had also realized that there was a change in mood between all of my friends.

I looked at Sora.

I watched at his face had gone from pale to paler. His mouth slightly gaped. Roxas's look of anger had melted away and was left with something that looked confused and horror-struck at the same time. Riku just looked immensely concerned.

Something was very, very wrong.

After another couple of minutes I heard Sora make an almost inaudible "Mm-hm." He sounded like a frightened child at a haunted house. Before he made his phone slap shut.

"What just happened?" Roxas asked his brother. Now I couldn't even tell that he was drunk - he just looked sick and tired. He didn't look pissed anymore either.

"Rox…" Sora started, so silently that none of us could really hear him.

"Wait. Let's go outside." Riku decided.

Sora nodded at his boyfriend and we all soon found ourselves outside in the cool, Summer night. My ears were ringing from all the blaring music that I had just been listening to.

"Rox…" Sora started again. His face was completely white. His eyes looked glassy. I thought he might start crying. "That was a sheriff. The house caught fire." He gulped. "Everything. Is gone. The only thing that didn't get set aflame was the porch." Pausing, he could barely breathe. I saw his chest heaving. "Mom and Dad are dead."

No one said a word for a minute. I didn't know what to think. I hadn't had parents since I was twelve. My older brother Reno had _always_ looked over me almost like a fatherly figure. I guessed that was why I could be so fucked up - because I lost my parents. They died in a car accident.

The memory ripped through me - but I shoved it away as I saw the look on Roxas's face turn from disbelief to realization. "The…" He sucked in a breath. "My computer."

"Overheated." Whispered Sora. "Blew up. No one was in your room. Your door was locked. Mom and Dad didn't know a fire started… until it was too late. It had traveled over too much area of the upstairs, and the ceiling caved on them while they were sleeping." He said solemnly. "Now everything we ever had is just… ash." And I saw Sora's face crumble. Riku had been standing directly behind his boyfriend, and now he slid his arms tightly around Sora's shoulders. Riku had a blank look on his face - as if he wasn't really there.

Now I saw the look on Roxas's face turn from realization to a look of complete devastation. "This is all my fault."

The blonde kind of just crumpled to his knees. His breaths came out ragged and short.

Before I even noticed what I was doing, I had kneeled next to him and started rubbing his back. I wasn't sure what it accomplished - I just did it. I didn't even realize if anyone noticed or not. I didn't care about all of our arguing in the past several hours either - nothing mattered. I just didn't want to see him like he was.

"No. Roxas. You…" The brunette seemed lost for words, like he wasn't really there either. Like he wasn't really thinking. "It was an accident."

"You told me to turn off my computer and I forgot. I'm a careless idiot!" My friend said loudly, panting.

"Riku, I want to go see what's left." Whispered Sora. "Roxas, you can come too. If you want to. I have to see it to believe it. The cops want to ask me some questions anyway."

The blonde shook his head violently. "No, I don't want to go anywhere near there." He sounded like he was choking.

I moved my hand up to his shoulder.

"I don't think that's a good idea…" Riku told his boyfriend.

"Roxas. I'm going there. Find somewhere to go. I'll call you back later." Sora sighed. "I _need_ to see it. I need to see everything."

To me, he looked a little like he had lost a part of his sanity.

Roxas nodded to his brother. "I'll be fine." He whispered - staring at the ground pointlessly. He looked lifeless, emotionless.

Until suddenly I saw a few tears spring from his eyes. "I'm sorry, Sora."

"It's not your fault!" His brother nearly shouted. He pulled away from Riku's grasp to bend over and give his brother a quick hug. But Roxas stood up quickly and wiped his tears away with the back of his hand before accepting it.

Sora continued talking. "I will talk to you later. Everything…" He took a breath. "Will be… okay." He didn't seem to believe the statement, himself. "I'll tell you if the cops tell me anything that you need to know."

I had stood up a moment after Roxas did. I felt like I didn't belong, I felt out of place. I kept quiet. I assumed the piggies had known Sora was out with Roxas, and since Sora was the oldest - they had called him and not Roxas.

My best friend nodded at his brother, his eyes still not focusing on anything. A shiver erupted through his body. I saw the goose bumps on his arms, and the fact that he was just wearing a wife beater even though it was pretty cool outside.

I started unzipping my Hollywood Undead sweatshirt, glad I had worn it.

"Take care of Roxas." Riku suddenly told me.

I just nodded. I had been planning on it.

And then Sora and Riku were gone.

I saw Roxas's empty face. It tore a hole in my heart seeing him like that. He no longer looked pissed off or drunk - he just looked… hollow and sad… and cold.

"Here." Softly, I spoke, handing him my sweatshirt. I had a baggy 3oh!3 t-shirt underneath. It was warm enough. I wouldn't need the sweatshirt as much as him.

The blonde just looked at it for a moment and blinked. He looked dazed, like he had been hit in the head by a cinderblock and was just now waking up. "Thanks." He whispered as quietly as his brother had.

I watched him as he zipped up the sweater slowly. When he finally had it on he looked like he was drowning in it. I never realized how big the sweatshirt actually was.

A look of pure sadness swept over his face before he threw himself into me. His head buried into my chest and his arms locked around my waist. I felt him sobbing against me and it nearly broke my heart. "I'm sorry, Axel. You're not a dumbass. I'm sorry I was being such a dick." I heard his muffled voice as he talked into my shirt.

I rested my fingers in his blonde locks. "Shh… It's okay. Don't worry about that, I'm sorry too. You're not an emo bitch." I told him sincerely.

I heard the boy mumble a few things about how the world would be better off without him, how it should have been him instead of his parents, and how he just wanted to die.

I couldn't stand hearing stuff like that from him. It physically hurt me. I wasn't sure why - it just _did_.

I pulled away a little bit so I could grab his chin and turn his face towards mine. His cheeks were red and streaked with tears - his eyes were a horrible shade of grey. "Don't say stuff like that." I commanded him quietly. I took my thumb and wiped a couple of his tears away.

I almost wanted to laugh at how quickly we had gone from about to beat the shit out of each other… to this. But everything that was going on was no laughing matter - _at all_. I knew what it was like to lose parents, and it hurt. But I knew that he must have felt even worse than I ever did for a couple of different reasons.

One would be that it was _his_ computer that overheated. It was _him_ who left it on. Guilt would be added to the pain he was feeling - even if it _was_ an accident. I saw that he _completely_ blamed himself.

Another reason would be that all Roxas _ever_ dreamed about was being a writer. He would spend hours, sometimes _days_ on end writing. He loved it.

And now everything he ever worked on was gone.

I knew that that hit him in a spot where even losing family members couldn't hit. And I wanted to tell him that everything would be okay - that he could buy a new computer and start over.

But, even I… Mr. Optimistic Axel himself - who _never_ cried, didn't know if it really _would_ be okay. I couldn't even begin to imagine how much fucking work Roxas had lost. All of those years of hard, tedious work just got flushed down the drain. And his parents were gone on top of it all.

My poor thing.

"Can we get out of here?" Blondie mumbled when he noticed some random dude and chick were making out hardcore about two feet away from us. They started moaning and they looked like animals.

"Course." I told him, glaring at the couple who had no fucking clue how obnoxious they were. They didn't even realize we were there.

Grabbing hold of Roxas's hand I pulled him behind me to the parking lot. I looked around for a shine of blue in the sea of cars.

"It's over there." He informed me softly. His free hand pointed a little ways to the left.

I studied my friend. The sleeves of the sweater completely engulfed his arm, all I could see on his free hand was one little pointer finger still sticking out. His other hand clutched mine. His eyes looked a little red. His face was flushed. He held a mix of sick, sad, tired, confused, lost, guilty, and strangely enough, grateful etched on his features with just a touch of childlike innocence.

I nodded to him and pulled him towards the direction of Kenny. He didn't _look_ too drunk - but I didn't want to take my chances. "Do you want me to drive, love?"

Whenever someone I was close to was upset or hurt - I always called them love. It was just something I had always done. No one really noticed it. _I _never even really noticed it. It was something my mom used to always call me when I was sad. It was one of the things I remembered about her - and it stuck to me. But whenever Roxas was feeling down and the word 'Love' would pop out of my mouth I would get all embarrassed. …But like most people, the blonde never seemed to pay any mind.

He nodded. Letting go of my hand he started feeling around in his jean pockets for what I assumed was the keys. Sure enough, he handed them to me without saying a word.

"I promise I won't crash him." Flashing Roxas a smile, I hoped for maybe a glimpse of a smile or a retort or something to come from him.

Instead all he said before walking over to the passenger side was, "I know. I trust you." And it was just hardly above a whisper.

I felt my face fall. It made me happy to know that he trusted me, but I could tell he was _very_ upset. Every other time I drove his car I would get pretty much a thirty minute mouthful on what to do or not to do to his baby.

I sucked in a breath. This was going to be a _long _fucking night. But I was planning on making him feel a little better if that was the last thing I would ever do.

We both got in the car and buckled. My best friend reminded me of a robot which slightly horrified me.

"Anywhere you want to go particularly, Rox?" I asked him.

Without any hesitation he just shook his head no. To me, he looked like a sad little boy who just wanted to go home and sleep. But now he never could go home.

To see him like that honestly choked me up a little.

"Okay well how about I stop at the nearest Quickee and grab us some cherry cokes? That sound good, love?" Out popped the love again. I shook off the embarrassment. I knew that Roxas's all time favorite thing to have was cherry coke. He could live off of it. I loved it myself, and once or twice a week we would always go to the nearest convenience store and get a couple.

Roxas nodded. I knew nothing could keep him away from his cherry coke.

I gave him a little smile.

In his eyes, I saw that he wanted to smile back - but that he just couldn't.

Soon, I had the car roaring to life and we got away from the club.

My mind started to wander. I thought about Leon and Cloud and if they knew we left. I thought about Sora and if he was doing okay. But most of all I thought about Roxas.

I thought of how his mood had been all day. I thought about how much he drank earlier. I thought about his fits of anger towards me. I thought about him sobbing into my chest. I thought about him trusting me.

I stole a glance at him. He was staring out the window, so I couldn't see the expression on his face. He seemed comfortable in my sweatshirt and I was thinking about letting him keep it. I had to hold myself back from just leaning over and hugging him to death.

After a couple more minutes I was pulling into Quickee. "I'll be back in a sec." I told him when I saw him digging in his pockets for his money. "Don't worry. My treat." I informed him as I left the car running.

I made my way into the convenience store with the nice air conditioning. There were only two other people in there besides myself and they were both looking at the alcoholic beverages. I grabbed two extra large fountain cups and filled them with light ice and to the brim with cherry coke. I smiled to myself, hoping I could make Roxas even just slightly happier just by giving him his most favorite treat.

I paid and marched my way back to my friend.

As I opened the car door and sat in the familiar seat, ready to hand the drink with a grin on my face, I realized there was more tears sliding down Roxas's face.

He noticed that I had noticed. "I'm sorry." He pulled the sleeve of the sweatshirt to his face and brushed them away. His voice was shaky. "Don't look at me like that, I can't help it."

I sighed, placing my drink in the cup holder while handing his to him. "I got you the hugest cherry coke possible." I felt a sad smile on my face as I told him. It was hard to try to lighten the mood at times like these.

He pulled his sleeves down over his hands completely before accepting the coke so his hands wouldn't get cold. "Thanks."

I absent-mindedly ran my fingers through his blonde, feathery hair. Again, I wasn't sure what this action accomplished. I just _did_ it.

And it made me strangely happy to know he wasn't swatting me away.

"I _am_ really sorry about earlier, Axel." The blonde spoke up after a few moments. I realized I was still running my hand through the gorgeous hair on his head.

"I already told you. There's nothing to apologize over." I sighed, but gave him a smile. "Now drink your coke. Anything _that_ sweet is sure to put you in a bit better of a mood. There's nothing much sweeter than cherry coke." I tried upping the atmosphere again.

Roxas took a sip. Both of his hands held onto the large drink. He looked like a little kid to me again. "_You're_ sweeter than cherry coke." And there it was - he looked at me and there was the smallest smile, but a smile nonetheless. The smile that told me he would be okay - it might be a while, but he would certainly make it through.

I pulled my hand out of his nest of hair and flashed him a grin. "Aren't you cute?" I teased, before finally pulling out of the Quickee parking lot.

Plus, he'd _totally_ just called me sweet!

"Where are we going now?" Roxas asked me.

"An awesome place." I told him vaguely.

"Is it quiet? Or will there be lots of people?" He questioned.

"Very quiet. Is that okay?" I hoped the quiet would be good with him. There wasn't a place out there that was more quiet than where I was taking him.

My best friend nodded, sipping the soda through his straw.

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**Remember - reviews get attention from me. :D**

**Next chapter will be Roxas again!**

**xox Rose Riku.  
**


	3. Three: Roxas

**Hello lovies. I have to say I was very happy with all the favorites and alerts I got for this story, and I'd like to thank my WONDERFUL reviewers: Foxyaoi123, BonneNuit, Naive-Symphony, and Valinda Blade.**

**Alright - so - the angst is on, my readers. I warned you that it would be angsty for a while, didn't I? After this angst clears up a bit - it will flip right back over into that subtle, witty, comedy that I love so much to write. **

**To my fellow fangirls (and boys): this chapter is particularly fluffy. Not as fluffy as I intend for later chapters to be - but it will get you grinning. :D (I watched Brokeback Mountain right before I started writing this chapter - so it got me in one of those sentimental moods. Haha!)**

**NOTE: I decided to stop titling the chapters. From now on, they will just go by whoever's point of view the chapter is in. So this one is Roxas. (: Also, if some of this chapter seems a bit repetitive or confusing the way it's written - it's just because it's supposed to be Roxas's thoughts, and he gets all funny in this chapter. My poor little blonde. ):**

**DISCLAIMER: I only own my dreams. **

**Erm... so REVIEW. Give me a reason to smile. I promise there will be happiness on the way. **

* * *

**The Promises of Summer**

**Chapter Three**

**Point of View: Roxas**

My mouth filled with the familiar taste of cherry-flavored cola. I swallowed.

I wasn't sure what time it was or how long we'd been traveling. It was dark and there were hardly cars on the interstate. I didn't have a single clue as to where Axel was taking me - but I trusted him enough not to even bother asking. I had other things on my mind as it were.

I still couldn't grasp the idea around my brain that my parents were _dead_ - and that it was my fault. Sora wanted me to think otherwise. Yeah, I knew it was an accident - but I still did it. It was _my_ fault that I was so careless. It was _my_ fault that I got so absorbed into my writing that I realized I only had a half an hour to get ready before I had to leave for the club. I could have just shut the stupid computer off and everything would have been fine. Mom and Dad would have still been sleeping in their bed and my writing would have still been there - nice and safe and saved on a hard drive. Now my future had vanished in flames - literally and figuratively.

My entire body felt filled to the brim with guilt for what I had done (especially since Sora was in the picture), worry for how I would deal with everything, sickness for drinking way too much alcohol for no apparent reason, sadness - just because my life felt over, fatigue from emotional stress, and strangely enough, happiness, but only because Axel was there with me and helping me through everything - even though I had been such a stupid dick to him earlier.

Even though I felt like I was being swallowed by darkness - Axel's voice made the corners of my lips turn up ever so slightly. It was like he was my light - a candle showing me the way to hope. He was my reason to believe that everything _might_ turn out okay in the end. The thought made me feel like such an ass for freaking out on him just hours ago, and for drinking my frustration out because of it - sometimes I was just plain stupid. Actually, I was stupid _all _the time. Because a smart person wouldn't leave their computer on when in the back of their head they _knew_ it could start a fire and destroy _everything_!

…And because of all my tragic stupidity, my head wouldn't stop spinning.

Which Axel was _not_ helping with.

In fact, I think he made it worse. The comforting words he spoke to me, the way his hand explored every strand of my hair - it made me wish my world only contained him and him alone. He made me want to throw away my writing, my work, school, and even anyone I ever knew. I didn't want anything to exist. Except for him and me. Because in a world like that I knew I could never feel this dreadful.

And every time he touched me - I would start to forget about _everything_. It was like he was a drug and I was completely under the influence. But then when his touch suddenly disappeared - reality would hit me again and I would feel even _more _upset because I would realize that I was completely obsessing about _Axel_ when I had _ruined and ended lives_ just hours before. And after I felt the nauseating smack of guilt, I would start aching for his touch again to make it go away - like withdrawal. So it went in a circle like that almost endlessly. It was nerve-wracking and I felt like a girl with crazy mood swings.

"We're almost there." The redhead chimed in, interrupting my unstable thoughts. I saw him glance at me.

I didn't reply to him. I just sipped my drink and continued staring out the window. I was feeling queasy again - although I was guessing from the alcohol, not the guilt. Or perhaps it was a horrible mix of both.

"You look _really_ pale, love." He said after he had taken a double take. He sounded genuinely worried as his right hand snaked to the back of my neck.

His long, slender fingers gently massaged where his hand had stopped. My mind wiped clean suddenly. All I could feel was his warm hand moving against the skin of my neck, and occasionally making it's way into my hair. I knew he was doing it to comfort me and it made me feel a funny warmth inside. I felt myself relax against his touch.

Suddenly, I realized he had said something and I had totally missed it.

"What'd you say?" When I asked him, I noticed my voice sounded a bit hoarse and near silent. I sighed to myself, feeling like a real fuck job. A slightly drunk fuck job who _just set his house on fire_.

I didn't think I would ever get over it. My mind couldn't steer away from the subject for more than a second. I was miserable.

My best friend cleared his throat. His hand stopped moving for a second, but it stayed where it was. "I said… Sora's probably going to be calling you soon. I was wondering if you had your phone on."

"Oh…" I softly spoke, reaching into my pocket. "Yeah, I think I do…"

In all honesty - I didn't want to hear Sora's voice. It would be shattered, depressed, hopeless, lost, and maybe a bit accusing. Even if he didn't say it to my face - I knew that deep down, at least a _sliver_ of him knew it was all on me. I also didn't want to hear the horrible facts. I didn't _want_ to know about the large pile of ash that was my childhood. But I knew I couldn't run away from it. Even as I pulled out my phone - reading the time (which said 1:37 am). Shutting it off wouldn't have stopped anything, it would have just delayed it. And what was the point of doing that?

I felt like crying again. A lump formed in my throat and my vision went blurry. I set my drink in the cup holder next to Axel's. I looked at the two large fountain drinks of cherry coke - just sitting there. The ice in it clinked as Axel drove down the interstate going 70 miles per hour. I tried focusing on the beverages - and nothing else. Even as I slid my phone back into my pocket. I wanted to do anything to keep myself from crying.

I thought I was doing pretty good until Axel moved his hand away from the base of my neck. If you've ever gotten a big, fluffy, warm blanket ripped off of you in the middle of a winter night - then that's what it felt like.

My tears spilled over, onto my cheeks. My throat ached and my head throbbed. I still felt like I was going to throw up.

Without trying to, a pitiful whine escaped me and I clenched my teeth. My eyes had shut tightly. "Can you stop the car?" I managed to choke out.

Without saying a word or asking a single thing - he pulled over to the side and stopped. I felt him fix his gaze on me.

Breathing was unexpectedly hard to do. I had hundreds of thoughts shooting through my mind all at once. I felt sick - so, so sick. My eyes realeased tears, my throat held a large lump that made me feel like I was suffocating, and my stomach churned over and over. With all my strength, I shakily unbuckled myself and swung opened the door.

And then I puked my guts out. Right there - in front of Axel - on the side of the interstate.

There was a ringing in my ears. I had a disgusting taste in my mouth. I felt like I wasn't getting any oxygen whatsoever - but I didn't even care.

I'm sure many moments passed as I sat there, still hunched over. I was starting to feel confused. Like I was dreaming, sleeping, or not there at all. I felt like I was watching what was happening to me from far away - but not actually living it.

At least until a pair of familiar hands connected with my soldiers and pulled me backwards slowly.

Without even thinking about saying it, I heard myself mumble. "Sorry."

"Oh, Rox. Stop apologizing." My best friend whispered to me as he grabbed hold of my chin.

I didn't try to pull away as he reached into my dashboard and pulled out a napkin. I felt him gently move it against my lips and I felt thoroughly embarrassed.

I must have had vomit on my mouth. Ew. Way to be attractive.

"I'm a friggin' mess." I informed him, as he still held my face in his hands.

Once he let go of my face, though, he tugged me inside the car a bit more as if I was some stupid plastic dummy that was just draped there. Then, he shut my passenger door. I watched him intently as he leaned over me.

"I've seen worse." He told me, finally replying, a smile playing on his features.

I was carelessly leaning back against my seat, so I straightened up. In all honesty, puking my guts out actually made me feel a bit better - stomach wise.

"No. I'm definitely a _big_ mess. Because now I'm going to turn into a drunken hobo who cries like a housewife!" I shouted at him. All my hoarse voiced whispers seemed to vanish abruptly.

"No, you can live with me. And I won't _ever _let you drink as much as you did tonight. Or have a reason to be as depressed as a housewife. I promise." The redhead decided.

Just blinking at him, I decided not to say anything back. My throat was still aching anyway.

I was _actually_ going to be living with the guy I was in love with - wasn't I?

Who knew tragedies could have a plus side?

The thought made me mentally smack myself - _hard_. My moods were doing more flip-flops.

And it didn't stop there. Suddenly, I felt a hand brush against my cheek - caressing it. It then moved slowly down my neck, to my shoulder, and all the way down my arm where it stopped right on top of my hand.

I felt my own fingers move, as if on their own, to interlace with the fingers of said hand.

So there I was, holding hands with my best friend. My heart racing and my mind flipping through thoughts like daytime television channels.

We sat there silently for a few moments, he hadn't even bothered to start the car back up. His thumb had even started to trace over my knuckles. We were wasting time - but I didn't mind it. After all, I had now officially wasted _years_ worth of work on writing that was now ash.

"I've lost _everything_." A whisper escaped me. I was looking straight ahead - out into the darkness of the night. Since the car was off, the headlights weren't on, and since the headlights weren't on - everything was black. I hadn't even realized until that very moment.

"You haven't lost Sora." My older friend whispered back to me.

I wasn't really sure why we were whispering.

"And you haven't lost me." He added. His voice told me he was a little embarrassed. "You'll _never _lose me." He paused. "I promise." Axel continued to whisper.

He was promising me _way _too much in the matter of an hour.

He didn't sound himself, but I knew he was sincere. He sounded a little like me during that moment - like he had no control over what he wanted to say. Like it wasn't really him saying it - but it _was_.

Did alcohol make everyone think like that? Or am I just weird?

I actually heard myself scoff. "You can't promise something like that."

"I just did." And I heard the smile in his voice as he said it so simply.

I just did.

Axel had just promised me he would never leave me.

I wasn't sure of what to think of that. But I stopped trying to after the first couple of minutes. I started wishing that I could just wrap my arms around him and stay like that until I died.

But that may be just a _bit_ pathetic.

I sighed, not really knowing how to reply. So I just continued to keep my fingers laced with his. It felt a little weird - but it was the nice kind of weird. My eyes closed and I rested my head (that was throbbing) back against the car seat.

I started taking slow, deep breaths - trying to calm myself down. I felt like I had just run a marathon and was being forced to run another one before ever getting a chance for a break. It was nice to just sit there and breathe - without thinking. Just focusing on my breaths, the darkness, and the warmth of Axel's finger still trailing over my knuckles.

Alas, the car boomed back to life suddenly - sending light and vibrations around me. It knocked me out of my meditation. I watched the redhead as he controlled everything with just his left hand easily - I wished he could get his own car. He obviously knew how to work one. But I knew he didn't have the money.

To both of our surprises - a phone went off. I immediately thought it was mine, since I was expecting Sora to call but it turned out not to be my ring tone. I turned to my friend shooting him a look of confusion as to who it could be.

He hesitantly pulled his hand out of mine - I wanted to grab it right back, but I knew he needed to drive _and _talk on the phone. So he certainly couldn't do both.

His emerald eyes met with the display screen. "Reno?" He asked, flipping his phone open.

I watched him as he listened for a moment. "You're _what_?" I heard him hiss into the phone.

I tensed. How much more shit could happen in this one single night?

He huffed audibly. "What the _hell_ were you thinking?!"

Strangely enough, I heard his older brother's mumble through the phone.

"Don't give me that _shit_! How long?!" Now Axel's voice was raised pretty high and it startled me. I had been so used to our silence and our soft voices.

I jumped even more when he very violent slammed his phone shut and hurled it into the back seat with a huff. Both his fingers clutched the steering wheel - his eyes focusing on the road.

I'm pretty sure I sat there silently like a deer in the headlights for a good while.

"Axel…?"

"What?" He asked me with irritation.

I frowned and sighed again. If I spoke, we would probably start arguing again and that was the last thing I wanted.

"Sorry." Axel told me, actually sounding _sorry_. "It's just that, well…" He paused. I saw him lift his left hand to his mouth and nibble on one of his nails. He did it quite often. "That was Reno. He's in the slammer."

"What did he _do_?" It was shocking, actually.

"Well… we've been kind of short on money lately. Hence why I don't have a car. And why we live in a shitty apartment." Mumbled the redhead.

It had always been that way for him. He and his brother worked their asses off to make ends meet. His poor brother had to drop out of high school when he was seventeen because of his parents' deaths so he could take care of himself and Axel.

"His friend and him had been selling pot for the past several months - without my knowledge." He told me matter-of-factly.

Yes, the night was a horrible one.

"And he got caught…" I spoke in realization.

"Yup." Frowned my slightly older friend. He looked upset. "Which means less money for us. He also got fired from his _real_ job."

"I'm so sorry, Axel." With honesty, I told him. "Listen… if I'm still gonna be staying with you - I promise I'll help with _everything_. I have a good job and I can even get an extra shift and-"

"Roxas, stop it." Interrupting, he spoke with a seriousness that he usually didn't have. "My problem is my problem. Okay? Don't go to all the trouble. You know I'll be able to handle it. Just worry about the stuff that you're gonna need. Since…" He paused. "Since you've lost everything and all. This is nothing compared to any of that. So don't worry about it." And he gave me a meek smile.

"Axel. The only stuff that I really miss is stuff that I can never get back." I told him - meaning my parents and my writing. "Everything else is just simple necessities that I can buy anytime easily. I'm gonna help you, okay? I can't undo what I did earlier tonight. Everything's burned and gone. I'll have to get over it eventually. So I'm _going_ to help you."

My best friend looked at me. I wished I knew what was going through his mind - his face looked expressionless.

I realized we had parked on the side of the road again. "Why are we stopping?" I asked.

"We're here." He told me, looking towards the woods we had parked next to.

My eyebrows raised as I looked back and forth between him and the woods he kept looking at. It seemed like a place where a serial killer would bury his bodies.

"Trust me?" He asked me, seeing the apparent fear on my eyes. He had left the headlights on, so I could see his green eyes looking over me.

Hesitantly, I answered. "'Course."

"Good." He grinned, before unbuckling and getting out of Kenny.

I assumed Axel would make a great actor. I knew that he was still upset about his brother, but his facial features hid it well. I think that's why he liked to talk - it helped keep him from breaking down. I also assumed that was why he never cried - he just had to _act_ happy and it would seem real.

Unlike me, who turned into a blubbering blob of drunken stupidity. When I was upset - I definitely showed it.

By the time I unbuckled, he opened my door. "Gonna sit there all day?"

Without answering I just got out. I unzipped his sweater since I was starting to feel warm again. I overlooked it - hoping to God that I didn't get puke anywhere.

And luckily, miraculously, I didn't.

"Want this back?" I asked him. "I'm warm now."

"Nah. Throw it in the seat." He told me.

So I did, I tossed it in and shut the door - wondering what the hell was so special about the woods in the middle of the night. And why Axel wanted to take me there.

"Don't look so nervous." Axel chuckled, wrapping his left arm around me and pulling me towards him. "You're so stiff. Relax. I know this looks sketchy, but I promise you won't regret this." And he rubbed my bare arm with his hand.

It felt soothing. I leaned myself into him as we walked straight into the dark path of forest.

My car's headlights were still on behind us. It helped us see a little - but it was dark, no doubt about it.

Axel made his way through like he did it every day. I wondered how many times he'd been here without me - and who else he might have brought.

I had that familiar feeling of envy bubbling up inside me, but it melted away when he leaned in extremely close to me. "Now walk straight into that field, look up, and tell me that it isn't the most amazing thing you've ever seen."

I froze. I noticed we were in front of an open field. It was blanketed in nighttime's darkness. The grass came up to my ankles. I could see off in a bit of distance where the treeless patch ended. Crickets sounded all around me - it seemed peaceful enough.

"Trust me." He whispered, pleading for my trust again. His lips were near my ear and sent tingles down my spine when I felt his breath hit against my skin.

"I'm trusting you." I whispered back, taking a tiny step forward.

His arm slid off of my shoulder and he gave me the tiniest push on my shoulder blade.

With one foot in front of the other I walked into the quiet field. After a couple of steps I noticed something. Fireflies would come up from the grass when I walked - as if I was disturbing their peace.

They glowed bright in the darkness that surrounded.

Within minutes - I saw what looked like hundreds of them. I couldn't believe it.

And then I realized that Axel was pretty far away - still standing where I had left him. I looked up at the sky as he directed.

And there it was - zillions and zillions of stars. They were nice and bright where the city lights couldn't hit them. I was overwhelmed by the shine of the stars and the fireflies that encircled me. I heard myself giggle like a girl.

And suddenly I felt a kick of optimism. Maybe my parents were in a place as gorgeous as this. And maybe I could write new and wonderful things. Maybe a new start was what I needed.

I took a deep breath of fresh air.

And I felt someone beside me.

"Beautiful, huh?" That familiar, confident voice touched my ears.

I nodded.

"I come here a lot. When I'm in need of a place to get away. To just relax and think in silence." Said my best friend.

"So I take it this is one of the aspects of your life you never mentioned to me?" I asked, my voice was sprinkled with hurt.

An arm wrapped around my shoulders. "Now, I was just being stubborn. I pretty much _do_ tell you every little detail of my life, Rox. I just never brought up this place - I found no reason to." He told me before continuing. "But now you're the only person I've ever told about it. This can be like…"

And I swear I saw a blush on his face, even though it was pretty dark.

"It can be like _our_ place." Axel said.

For the first time in hours - I gave him a genuine grin. It seemed to brighten him up a bit.

"How'd you find it?" I asked him curiously.

"Well… I found it when I was real little." In a hushed tone, the redhead told me. His eyes were looking directly up at the stars. There were less fireflies around than there were a few minutes ago. "I was twelve. It was about a week after the accident." His facial features slipped for a moment - showing me pain and sadness. But only for a moment, and he was back to looking well put together. "Reno had to drive me to school, and then afterwards he would pick me up and bring me to his work - because he didn't want me left alone at the time. Well, he always took the interstate to be quicker…" I watched him swallow. I wonder if this was something that was hard to talk about for him.

"One day - his car broke down. Right near here. He told me to stay put while he went off to go get help. And you know how I am, I didn't stay put." A quick smile flashed on his face. "And I wandered to this very spot. It wasn't much different then than it is now. It was the only place where I felt happy…"

"Really?" I asked him. I didn't really think of how hard losing his parents was. It happened to a lot of kids. But now that I had a taste of it myself - I knew exactly how he felt. But to have been so young… I couldn't begin to imagine that.

"Until my sophomore year of high school - I always felt like a zombie unless I was here." He confessed to me. "Never really knew why."

"So, Reno must know of this place, then…" I reasoned.

"Nope. I left here and went back to the car before he came back. But after that day, I would sometimes tell him to drop me off in the middle of the interstate because I felt like a nice walk. He never asked questions. Other times - I would even hitch hike." Axel looked at me with a half-smile.

It made me happy that he was telling me all of this. It also made me feel better about what had happened earlier - I wasn't the only one in the world who had sucky things happen.

"Is that where you would bring Demyx's car when you borrowed it?" Another tiny smile crept on my face when I asked him. The only mysteries I had about Axel were now falling wonderfully into place. Maybe this _was_ the only thing he kept from me. And now, here he was telling me that he wanted me to be a part of his little secret world.

"You got it." Grinned the redhead, connecting his emerald eyes with mine.

We just looked at each other for a moment. All I could hear were the crickets that greatly outnumbered us. It seemed darker than it had a little while ago - although I could sense my headlights on in the distance - and after looking up at the sky for a second I saw that there would soon be a bit of rain. A majority of the stars were blanketed by a dark, gray cloud.

A little rain was what I figured for after everything else that had gone on in that single night - even though the night was far from over. I guessed it'd be about three hours until dawn came. So much for sleep.

His eyes were still peering into me, and I met them again. My body seemed paralyzed, but I had to say _something_. "So now I can bring you here every day if you want."

Axel seemed to be shaken out of a hypnosis. He looked confused for a second. "Yeah. And you'll be here with me."

My face went warm. I had to remember that he was just being 'Axel, the best friend' not 'Axel, the romantic boyfriend' like he was in my fantasies.

I sighed and replied with what I hoped looked like a warm smile. "Of course."

Immediately after I spoke, I felt something wet drop on my forehead. I looked up only to have another wet drop fall onto my cheek. Axel looked up, too - after he noticed I had.

Before either of us knew it - rain was pouring down on us. My hair and white beater clung to my skin for dear life.

"Of course." I muttered again - although in a completely different context.

The redhead next to me chuckled. And then after giving me a mischievous look - he started _skipping_ around the field in circles - giggling like a school girl.

I just stood there - getting wet - while looking at him and wondering if his sanity was still in tact.

And then he plopped down in the grass - all stretched out and closing his eyes. The rain hit against him and he looked honestly content.

I found myself making my way over to him.

Standing over him - looking down - I waited until he noticed my presence.

After a second or two he popped one eye open.

"What are you doing?" With a humored tone, I asked.

"Relaxing." Axel told me matter-of-factly as he shut his eyes again.

I kicked him in the thigh lightly, smiling as I did so.

I thought he would just ignore it at first - until he forcefully threw his leg out. It slammed into _my_ leg - surprising me, and I fell over into the grass. Right next to him.

My best friend started laughing, then. I was still a bit surprised and I wasn't sure how I had ended up on the ground.

"Can't believe you fell for that!" Giggled Axel, sounding proud of himself.

I leaned over and smacked him in the ribs playfully. He mocked pain before smacking me back and soon we were horsing around in the wet grass. Our smacking turned to tickling. We both laughed and rolled around in the grass - completely soaked, and I'll admit - I was a bit cold. But it was probably the highlight of the night. Everything before that moment had been nothing but depressing.

It was the highlight of the night until things got even _better_, that was.

"Stop!" I whined, laughing uncontrollably.

Most people would think tickle fights were anything if not gay - but it was just something we did. All of us. Even Sora, Riku, Kairi, Demyx, and Namine - our group just liked the idea of tickle torture. It was worse than a punch in the face sometimes.

His tickling made me laugh so hard that my stomach clenched - although I was happy to realize I was definitely not sick anymore. I guess I _did_ have good alcohol tolerance.

"Please…" Begging, I tried restraining Axel's hands. He ended up elbowing me in the nose which hurt like a bitch. "Ow." I moaned.

The redhead stopped tickling me instantly. He tried calming his own laughter down. "Sorry."

I put a hand to my nose - it wasn't hit all that hard. It just stung in the cold, wet, rain. "It's fine." I told him. My eyes were shut as I rubbed my injured body part. But the second I removed my hand and opened my eyes I saw Axel, leaning over me dangerously close. We were sitting in an awkward position. I was laying there - while he straddled me.

I finally felt very aware of the pressure of his weight against my legs. He was panting from the laughter and rain dripped down the sides of his face. His spiky red hair hung low against his jaw. It was extremely attractive. Even his slightly running eyeliner was attractive. His black face tattoos sparkled with the moisture.

Gulping, I had no idea what to say. This was a sticky situation that I had no clue how to get out of. Nor did I even _want_ to get out of it. But if he didn't get out of my face soon, I knew I would lose control and start madly kissing him. Which could be fatally embarrassing.

He leaned closer to me, as one of his fingers trailed the bridge of my nose. I didn't pull my eyes off of his face. "Did I hurt it too bad?"

"Nope." A pitiful sound escaped me. I hoped he understood what I said, or at least I hoped he knew it was a _word_.

And then, if only for a second, his lips met my nose. A tiny peck - right were it stung.

I forgot how to breathe.

I had an image in my brain of Axel going up to my brother tomorrow. "Oh. Yeah. Roxas died because I kissed him on the nose."

"Good." Axel smiled sweetly at me - still on top of me, still dangerously close to my face. He shook me out of my quick, idiotic nightmare.

And then I remembered - Sora. He still hadn't called! Maybe he had fallen asleep at Riku's before he had the chance.

"What are you thinking about?" Questioned my friend, as he leaned on my chest a bit. His face was only inches from mine and he didn't seem to have any thoughts of moving. I was sure I would die right where I was.

"My brother." I told him truthfully.

"Oh, right. He never called." Taking a hand, he pushed some of my wet locks out of my face. "It _is_ late. Maybe he just decided to wait until tomorrow."

"I hope so." Speaking in an almost inaudible whisper, I realized I was holding his hand against my face.

The second I noticed what I did I was mortified and about to quickly pull away. But I felt his fingers underneath my hand slowly move against my skin. It felt nice, and I just never ended up letting my hand drop.

We sat that way in silence. All that could be heard was the rain hitting everywhere around us. The crickets weren't audible anymore.

I felt peaceful.

"Roxas?" My name on his lips sounded meek.

"Hmm?" I tried looking directly at his face to try to read his expression. I couldn't. I never saw a look like that on him before.

"I…" He started. "I, um…" He licked his lips. "Sorry… I just…I…"

"What?" Curious, I lifted my head up a little. I started sliding my hand off of his, but his hand stayed on my face.

"Um…" The redhead's voice faltered.

He suddenly took the hand that was on my face and slid his thumb over my lips.

My body shivered and I completely stopped breathing.

His eyes flickered from my lips to my eyes - as if maybe expecting something. I wasn't sure. It was hard to process anything.

And like all my fantasies and day dreams - Axel began moving his head nearer to mine slowly, as if _he_ wasn't sure of what he was doing. He seemed cautious. I heard him audibly gulp. It was… cute.

Right before our lips met we just lingered centimeters apart from each other. His fingers were curled around my jaw now and both of my hands were flat in the grass - holding me up slightly. His breaths felt warm and dry against my mouth as they mingled with my own. We were _so_ close to a kiss - and yet I was so terrified to just bring myself up the short distance.

It felt like a century - but after what was probably thirty seconds, our lips connected.

And my horrible night was instantly not too horrible after all.

It was a soft kiss. No open mouth, no tongue, no animalistic sounds - just what felt like a sweet kiss that I never wanted to end. It was maybe four seconds long - but it left me breathless. If I combined all the make-out sessions I had ever had in my life - it wouldn't be anywhere near as intense as the kiss I had just shared with Axel.

The second we broke apart I felt my chest clench. Why now? Why did it have to be like this now? Was he just doing it to entertain me and keep my mind away from my tragedy? Did he just feel bad for me?

I had no clue as to what would happen after the kiss. It was always awkward after a first kiss - and with our position I couldn't exactly just turn my head or walk away.

I watched him open his mouth to speak. "Roxas, I…"

And then my phone went off. The chorus of Jesse McCartney's "Right Where You Want Me" rang - interrupting Axel.

The redhead shifted to the side as I slid my hand in my pocket to grab my phone.

_Please don't take your time._

_You got me - right where you want me._

I found Jesse McCartney's voice completely awesome. But right now, I wanted to never hear the stupid song again. It had just destroyed what could have been the most amazing moment of my life.

"Sora?" I asked after taking a glimpse at the caller ID.

I sat up straight - Axel completely slid off of me, but he was as close to me as he could possibly be with_out_ being on top of me.

"No. It's Riku." A voice that wasn't my brother's sounded.

Riku's voice sounded low - as if he was trying to be quiet. But it also seemed a little harsh to me. Nervousness filled my gut. "What is it?" I asked him. "Is Sora okay?"

Axel looked with confusion at me. I glanced at him as if to let him know I was just as confused as he was.

"No." He informed me, as if the answer was obvious - and I shouldn't have had to ask. Riku was beginning to scare me.

"_What_ happened?" A whisper escaped me. I didn't think I could handle any more problems.

"Basically, Roxas - he went into shock. The house looked a lot worse than either of us assumed. It smelled awful, felt awful, and everything was a mess. There was still firemen cleaning up the place. Cops were asking us questions. It was scary - even for me. And it wasn't _my_ house. Sora hasn't spoken since. He just keeps staring off into space and I don't know what to do. He looks like he's just about to fall over and die, Roxas. Do you know what the hell you've done?" Riku hissed at me over the line. He sounded like he had a lump in his throat. Sora's pain hurt him too, and I could see that.

The answer was, no, I didn't know what the hell I'd done. I never _meant_ to be so stupid or careless. I never _meant_ for anyone to get hurt. It just… happened… and then it was too late for me to fix it.

I was a fuck up.

"I'm sorry…" I heard myself moan. And my vision got blurry again. "Can I try to talk to Sora? Please?"

"I don't think-" He started.

"_Please_, Riku. I just want to tell my brother something. I just want him to listen - he doesn't need to say a word." Begging, I heard my voice break. I felt the tears start falling again. I had lost count how many times I had cried that night.

Even as I was still on the phone, Axel reached up and wiped some of the tears off my face. He looked at me with what I saw was deep concern.

"Fine." Muttered my brother's boyfriend, as I heard shuffling on the other end.

Eventually, I heard soft breathing coming through the receiver. "Sora?" I called out softly, hoping it was him. I heard a bit more of a shuffle and I knew he was there.

"Sora, I can't even begin to say how sorry I am. I never meant to be so stupid. I wish I could redo everything. I'll make things better, okay? I'll find a way to make everything better." I told my slightly older brother.

The redhead who was still silent then seemed to be tracing circles on my lower back while his other hand just rested on my leg.

I heard more breathing from the other line. Sora not talking _was_ pretty serious.

A sob escaped me and I tried not to break down again.

In the middle of my fit - I just slammed the phone shut.

For a second I wondered if this was normal behavior for a guy - and then I decided that I didn't care what it was - I had _killed_ my parents, and destroyed my brother's life. I would _never get over it_.

I threw the phone a few feet away from me and brought my knees up so I could hide my face. This time, I just let myself completely bawl. I had never heard Riku like that before, I had never heard Sora like that before, and I never felt so completely miserable like I was, before.

I vaguely noticed how Axel was shifting beside me - until I felt him behind me and wrapping his arms around my waist and resting his head against my shoulder.

"Rox…" He whispered in my ear. "Calm down, love."

"I can't." Mumbling like a little kid, I sounded nothing like myself. I felt nothing like myself. I sat up just a tiny bit.

My friend took advantage of my sitting up to pull me back against him until I was sitting in his lap and leaning back into his chest.

His head was resting perfectly on my shoulder. I felt his cheek against mine, and I also felt his wet hair tickling my skin. I tried slowing my sobs down. I was gasping for breath.

"Shh." Axel gently hummed in my ear. "Relax."

His hands tightened more around my waist and his thumb softly moved up and down underneath my beater - as if trying to coax me into relaxing.

My body uncontrollably twitched with my sobs. I absolutely couldn't stop, even though my chest felt like it was burning.

As my breathing began to relax ever so slightly, I moved my hands to rest on top of Axel's and I relaxed into his chest a little more. He felt like my life jacket - I needed him to stay breathing.

After I had acted, I felt him nuzzle his head into my neck. I suddenly felt exhausted beyond belief.

The rain had died down quite a bit by then. But I was still soaked, and starting to freeze. I shivered.

My friend slid his arms out from underneath mine and draped them around my bare shoulders. "We should head back to Kenny, soon, shouldn't we?" It sounded like a rhetorical question.

Axel leaned into me. His breath was warm against me. His lips brushed against my jaw. "Are you gonna be okay, love?" He asked me, his voice only slightly higher than a whisper.

"I'm such a fuck up." Whispering back, I decided to tell him about the conversation. "Riku hates me, and Sora is probably traumatized. He's gone _mute_."

Then Axel moved his arms again. He slid them down to my hands and held them lightly, pulling us even closer than we were before. "I'm sure he'll be okay, Rox. And I'm sure Riku's just frustrated. You didn't mean-"

"It doesn't _matter_ what I _meant_. I see that now. All I know is that I fucked things up big time - and they can't be fixed." I spoke a little harsher to him than I wanted to.

Sliding his head away from mine - I hoped I hadn't gotten him upset with me. "Sorry. I'm not _trying_ to be a dick, again."

He gave me a little push in the back - hinting for me to stand. I did. He stood up after.

"Roxas…" Axel spoke, turning my head so our eyes would meet. His hand rested under my jaw again, and his thumb wiped away tears that were beginning to dry. "You're not a fuck up. You're not a dick. What happened earlier was an _accident_. There _isn't_ anything you can do about it - except try to cope. Everyone, including you, is going to be upset about it for a long while - but in the end… _It. Will. Be. Okay._" And then the redhead planted a small kiss on my forehead.

I tried to pretend it didn't take my breath away.

My eyes made contact with the grass. "What did you do… what were you thinking… the moment you found out your parents died?"

I could tell from his slight gasp that he wasn't sure how to answer the question. It had taken him by surprise. "W…well…"

"You can tell me." Looking up into his unsure face, I hoped I wasn't hitting him in too hard of a spot.

"I didn't do. I didn't think." Somberness echoed with every syllable he mumbled. "I just…" A sigh released from his lips. "I was hollow. I turned my head away, shut my eyes and ears to it. I acted like I wasn't there." Confessed Axel. "It was like that for the longest time…"

"What made you stop feeling like that?" Curiosity had the best of me.

The redhead hesitated. I saw a look in his eyes that I'd never before seen. "Having real friends. Like you. Mostly it _was_ you."

"What?" I didn't exactly understand what he meant.

"When I met you - and Sora and Riku. Kairi, Namine - all of you guys. I just… finally found a place where I belonged." My friend shrugged, blushing. It was the most sentimental moment I assumed either of us had ever experienced. It was so very, very mawkish. It could have been a great line on Full House. "And you were the best of all of them. You were always my best friend. You always will be. I know I'll always have you to trust."

If I was a girl, I'd be crying all over again.

Axel coughed a bit. "I think I'm tired. Can we go now?" The blush was still covering his cheeks cutely.

My mind just kept on racing for a few moments. At least until I decided I was too exhausted to care about _anything_ else at that point in time. So much had been said, and not said - done, and not done - in a matter of one night. It was all and it was nothing. I knew I would never forget it - one of the worst nights of my life - with some of the best memories I would always hold onto.

"Yeah, let's go." I nodded at him - turning to grab my phone that I had earlier completely chucked in frustration.

Once I had it, Axel's arm slid around my shoulders and he dragged me out of _our place _to reality.

~_~_~_~

Axel and I sat quietly in Kenny - physically and emotionally exhausted. It was almost three in the morning. My head was leaning against the glass window as I watched the street blurring beneath the car.

We had thrown our half-finished cherry cokes out on the side of the road before we left. I hated warm, watery drinks.

I wore the Hollywood Undead sweatshirt again. It was warm and dry. I felt completely comfortable and content in it. It helped that it smelled like Axel. You could guess what Axel's smell was like. He smelled… like his hair gel. I nuzzled my nose into the sleeve as fatigue pounded against the back of my head.

I tried resting my eyes - hoping it would feel better. I told myself to not sleep under any circumstances.

My sense of time and place started fading. I knew I was falling into slumber. I tried snapping myself awake but I just couldn't. Out of the blue, I felt the car's roar abruptly stop.

"Rox…" Axel's voice whispered.

I tried to move, to get up, but I was so exhausted. As far as I was concerned - I _was_ sleeping. It was a disorienting feeling, anyway.

"You have no idea how adorable are when you're sleeping." I heard him say half to me and half to himself. I wondered if I was having a nice dream. I felt a warm finger trail down my cheek.

Yes, definitely a nice dream.

I heard his door open and then slam. I heard footsteps and then I felt my 'pillow' give way.

"Whoa." Muttered Axel's voice again as familiar hands rested against my shoulders - holding me up. I felt like half of me was floating. I still felt paralyzed.

"Come on, love." He whispered in my hair as he unbuckled me and lifted me out of the car. I felt two hands on me - one on my back and one under my thighs. I felt wind on me. I felt like I was flying.

I wondered if my parents could fly. I wondered if ghosts or angels were real. I wondered if Heaven was real - or Hell. I bet if they were real, my parents would be in Heaven. Sora and I used to make jokes that when they died, they'd be having tea and crumpets with the big guy himself. I wanted to laugh at the memory, but I was just dreaming after all.

And I kept on flying until I was being set down on something soft. This soft thing felt and smelled very recognizable. I realized after a few moments that it was my best friend's bed.

The warmth of hands suddenly vanished.

"Axel…" I think I whined. It hurt to pull my eyes open. I was more perplexed then ever. I assumed it was just fatigue. I was half-awake and half-dreaming.

"Yeah?" I heard a reply.

My eyes had finally opened - but they burned. I saw Axel standing in his doorway of his room, walking out. Why would he sleep on the couch and put me here? I thought it was dumb.

"Will you stay with me?" I asked, not caring if he judged. I could make sense of absolutely nothing - except that I wanted to sleep and that I didn't want to sleep alone. I felt like a six year old, and that didn't even bug me.

I watched him as he hesitated. "Of course." Axel agreed finally - and I felt quickly relieved. "But I want some dry clothes first. If you want - you can borrow some. I'll grab you something."

"Thanks." I slurred, trying to stand up off the bed.

He chuckled at me and walked into the other room quickly.

I felt like a zombie as I waited for Axel to come back in his room. It was hard not to just fall right back asleep. My eyes stayed partly shut.

"Here." And suddenly, he was in my face - handing me a t-shirt and boxers.

Whoa, I was gonna wear Axel's boxers.

Actually, him and I borrowed each other's clothes when we had to _all_ the time. So it was nothing knew. Except now, for some reason, I felt so much more aware of it.

"I'll go change in the bathroom." I heard myself mumble before stumbling off. I yawned the entire time I was changing my clothes - and by the time I made it back to Axel's room - I was ready to just collapse on the floor.

"Shit. I left my phone in the backseat of your car!" Shouted my friend, making my eyes snap open suddenly. "I'll be right back."

I didn't reply. I just ambled over to my best friend's best and flopped on it. I felt warm, comfortable, and relaxed. I snuggled into the pillow that smelled of Axel and grinned into the case.

I decided that sleeping could cure everything. When people sleep - they lose consciousness - when they lose consciousness - they don't think - when they don't think - they don't have to worry about things like muted brothers and dead parents and lost writing.

God, it would be the first night of my life that I ever went to bed without doing some writing first.

I tried not to start getting upset again.

I heard a thump near me and saw Axel coming back in - his white t-shirt and red boxers looked so cute on him. His hair was starting to dry and it looked adorable in it's frizziness.

"Do you need anything?" My best friend asked me as he put his phone on the charger. Mine was still in my pants pocket which was on his bathroom floor - I didn't care.

"Sleep." I answered truthfully.

Axel chuckled. "Okay. Me too." He paused. "And listen… we can figure everything about Sora and stuff out in the morning. So don't worry about it."

"Alright." Mumbling, I smiled at him with my eyes closed.

I slid closer to the wall as the redhead sat in the bed next to me. I felt him looking at me.

"What?" I asked, opening my eyes just a smidgen.

"You're just cute." Whispered my new roommate before pecking me on the cheek.

I failed at hiding my widening smile.

My eyes shut again, relieving the burning. I felt my friend moving on the bed before I heard an audible _click_ and then the color behind my eyelids turned pitch black.

A hand got lost in my hair again. I liked the feeling. I didn't have my eyes open so I just moved closer to the warmth, until I knew my head was on Axel's chest.

"Hey, Axe?" I whispered - my eyes still closed.

"Hmm?" He whispered back. He sounded pretty sleepy himself. His hand moved in slow circles on my scalp.

"Thanks for… everything… tonight. Just… for making me feel better about things - and for showing me that place… and stuff." I told him honestly. He needed to be praised for taking care of a crybaby like myself.

"I did it because I wanted to." Axel said to me simply. "You don't need to thank me for it."

"But I want to." I paused. "And I just did."

Axel chuckled softly, and I felt his chest move up and down as he did so. "I will _never_ get sick of you, Roxas."

I had nothing to reply to that. I wasn't exactly sure what he had meant. But we were both awfully tired, and I decided the next day I would deal with everything.

I would deal with Sora being mute.

I would deal with Riku hating me.

I would deal with buying myself a new laptop and clothes.

I would deal with asking Axel why he kissed me.

I would deal with telling Axel why I was upset earlier.

I would deal with the house fire - and everything that went along with it. Like my parents' deaths.

And I would deal with helping Axel and his 'Reno-being-in-the-slammer' problem.

But sleeping would come first.

And so I let myself succumb to it - my face buried in Axel's chest as I realized that the night was _finally_ at an end.

* * *

**That was a very long SOB. It took me ages to write and I hope everyone enjoys it - or I will fill a room with my tears. **

**BTW - to those of you who catched the Jesse McCartney thing 'he has an awesome voice' I high five you. Lol. I'm really not his BIGGEST fan or anything - I just had to throw that in there because Jesse McCartney, does indeed, do Roxas's voice for the North American version of the game. Whoop-whoop. **

**Review and I shall shower you with gratitude (and put your name up on my next chapter). **

**SMILES ARE COMING! I PROMISE! :D**

**xox Rose Riku**


	4. Four: Axel

**Alrighty. I am back! Sorry for the late-ness! I had finals, then PortCon, then Father's Day, then I slept for like... 24 hours straight. **

**And to those who don't know about PortCon - it's an AMAZING anime convention in Maine. I went as School Girl Kairi. I took great pictures. I met the people who did the voices of Hiro from Gravitation, Asuka from Evangelion, and Chobi the Chocobo from Final Fantasy Unlimited! I bought an AkuRoku keychain and stickers. I saw a Roxas in a dress (OHMGOD!) I saw Axels and Roxases that were like... in love. I got SoRiku kissing shots. It was epic. I raved. I squeed. I died a happy fangirl. If you've never gone to an anime convention - then I suggest you go NOW.**

**Anyway...**

**NOTE: I changed the rating to T because I am taking out the sexual details in later chapters and saving them for oneshots if you want to read them. Make sure to do an author alert on me so you can get them right in your e-mail if you want the dirty details. ;)**

**DISCLAIMER: Nope... my name's not in the credits. Damn.**

**Review? And thanks to... _Naive-Symphony, , Valinda Blade, BonneNuit, AliceWillBeAlice, AkuRoku Fan On Fire. _(If I missed you or got your name wrong then I apologize!)**

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**The Promises of Summer**

**Chapter Four**

**Point of View: Axel**

My mom stood before me in the backyard, sipping from her can of Diet Pepsi. Her red hair flapped around her face as a gust of wind came by. "Go find your brother." She told me.

"He's gone." I told her, not wanting to say that he had made his way into jail.

"He'll be back. He always promised me he would take care of you." And that wonderful, motherly smile crept onto her features - showing complete honesty.

I didn't have a chance to reply. She vanished…

"Mum?" I called out.

"She's gone." A voice said behind me.

I turned to see Reno.

"I thought _you_ were gone…" I asked him in confusion.

"I am." Reno simply replied.

I just looked at him.

"Mom and Dad can never come back." He told me simply. Too simply.

"What do you mean?" I asked, breathing heavily.

"Car crash." Whispered my brother.

Before my eyes, Reno disappeared - and in his place stood Sora. My head spun. What was going on?

"The house caught fire…" My brunette friend whispered in a voice just like my brother's - except Sora's gaze was to the right of me.

Roxas. I hadn't noticed him next to me before. _Was_ he next to me before?

"Mom and Dad are dead." Sora choked up, looking at his brother.

And for some strange reason, I just ran right up to Roxas and kissed him - full on the lips.

"What the hell are you doing?" Shouted Reno's voice. Sora had turned back into him. I was very, very puzzled. "He doesn't want you _kissing_ him at a time like this! There's much more important things going on! He could care less about you! You're a worthless, disgusting, manwhore who isn't helping the situation one bit!"

I was so upset that I couldn't find the words to say.

What I _wanted _to say was, "Shut the fuck up, Reno! I love him!"

But my lips didn't budge. They just stayed slightly agape.

I stayed like that for what felt like eternity. Eventually everything just fell away from me - and I was laying in my favorite place next to my favorite person. Reno nor Sora was anywhere to be found. Stars loomed overhead - and nothing mattered.

Especially when I felt my best friend's head rest against my chest. How dare Reno call me a manwhore? My feelings were for Roxas, and Roxas only.

The blonde nuzzled into my chin - and I felt his hair tickling my nose.

My eyes fluttered open. I slowly crawled into consciousness. All of that was just a dream. A weird, and upsetting dream. A dream, that I assumed, must have been triggered by all of the night before's events.

The only good thing - was that Roxas really _was_ there - sleeping on me. It felt nice to have his warmth against me.

Speaking of his warmth, I could _not_ believe we fucking _kissed_! It was one of the most amazing moments of my life - but it was the _wrong_ time. I was all over him. I'm not sure what I was thinking. I even almost told him the truth.

The truth that being best friends just wasn't going to cut it anymore. I was in love with him.

But, thank God for Jesse McCartney. Thanks to him I didn't say anything impulsively. I almost told him. I was so close. And then when I realized the chance I had was gone, I was instantly relieved - but I couldn't stop thinking about what would have happened if the words had come out of my big fucking mouth. I wanted to save telling him that for when there would be a time that he _wasn't_ upset or under stress.

Speaking of stress, I knew we would have to deal with … everything starting from the second Roxas would come around.

Sighing, I just laid there - breathing in the scent of Roxas's hair and trying to fully wake up. I wondered what time it was. The sun seemed pretty high in the sky, which made me nervous. I was happy that I didn't have work until Monday.

Work seemed like such an old thing. So did school. It had only been a day - but it felt like years had passed just from one night. One second I had been fighting with Roxas over stupid things - and the next second he was pretty much crying in my arms.

God, we _had_ been fighting for no reason. I wanted to make him jealous. Sometimes I was just a fucking stupid teenager. And nothing else.

All the time I have ever spent on trying to make Roxas jealous - I could have used to be expressing my love towards him. But I was a stupid male after all.

And - I was pretty confident - that he at least _liked_ me back. Maybe he wasn't in love with me, but I'm sure he wouldn't stick his nose up at me. He _did_ kiss me back after all. And he _did_ seem kind of all over me at times. And he _did_ get pretty jealous over that girl at the club.

Yeah - I would say it was a ninety percent chance that I would get a positive response if I confessed.

But now was _not_ the time.

I would have to wait until all of the shit was over.

And until then - I had no problem with just _being_ with Roxas. With helping him out in the middle of his crisis. With us going to _our spot_ (I liked the sound of that) together.

Until then, I would just enjoy our friendship.

_BANG BANG BANG!_

"Come in!" I shouted after being jumped out of my mind. Someone was at the door - and I hoped it was someone who didn't care about two guys being snuggled against each other in boxers.

I felt Roxas stir - starting to awaken. He made a cute little whine.

A familiar silver-haired teenager stormed into my room. "Why has Roxas's phone been off?"

He paused, looking at the two of us. I had an innocent grin while Roxas looked half-dead.

"Don't tell me… that you two…" Clenching one of his hands, he mumbled. Sora stood behind him and I swear I saw a flash of humor in his slightly-sunken-in eyes. Apparently he didn't sleep as much as we had - which didn't surprise me.

"No. Hold your Chocobos. Everything's cool." I said before he blew a fuse.

Roxas started to sit up. He rubbed his eyes like a little kid. "What time is it?" Yawning, he asked.

"One in the afternoon!" Riku informed us like we were idiots.

My friend's eyes popped open at the news. "Oh. I must have been really tired or something. I usually don't sleep that much… Sorry." He sounded like it made him a big criminal.

"Yes, Roxas. You were exhausted. That's nothing to be _sorry_ about." I could feel myself getting all defensive. I was usually like this with Roxas. It really irked something in me when Riku was making Roxas feel like he had to apologize over something like that.

Riku ignoring my outburst was visible. Sora still stood behind him - he looked like a child listening in to an adult conversation - confused and quiet.

"I have to go out and buy a new charger for my phone. Until then - it will be dead." Piped up Roxas, speaking to Riku.

"Well you should have called us to let us know your phone would be dead!" Yelled Sora's boyfriend.

"You should have called _my_ phone." Interrupting, I purposely glared at Riku. He was being a complete ass. For no reason.

"Why are you freaking out so much?" Roxas asked Riku, basically at the same time as I spoke.

Riku ignored my point about my phone. He continued looking at Roxas. "_Why_ am I freaking out? Because I _hate_ seeing Sora like this. I don't know what to do about it. And you don't seem to care about _any_ of this!"

A look of rage came over my Roxy's normally sweet face. "Bull_shit_ I don't care about any of this!" The blonde stood up and was staring down Riku in the eyes. It was only a bit amusing that Roxas had to stand on the tip of his toes to look more intimidating.

Riku opened his mouth but Roxas kept talking.

"You have _no idea_ how horrible I feel about all of this! The house, my parents… Sora. Are you saying I don't care about any of that?!" He shouted in the silver-haired boy's face.

I had to admit, if I was Riku I would have pissed my pants.

They just continued to stare down into each other - if you've ever used the term 'death glare' then you had to have seen this.

Sora stepped up from behind his boyfriend suddenly. I watched as Riku and Roxas finally had something to look at besides each other. The tension in the room eased slightly.

"We're acting like kids. All of us." The brunette whispered hoarsely.

Riku and Roxas were a tad bit astonished. I honestly wasn't too shocked. I knew Sora wouldn't go twenty-four hours without talking.

"Sora…" Riku breathed, all signs of murder out of his face.

"Riku - you need to calm down. I'm fine." He told his boyfriend. Then he turned to Roxas. "And you, Roxas. Stop blaming yourself. I mean it when I say that I don't think it was your fault. It was an accident. So quit beating yourself up, or you're gonna make yourself sick."

"And as for myself…" Continued Sora. "I know that I wouldn't talk last night, Riku. But - I was just in shock. I guess it was like an eighteen year old boy's way to throw a temper tantrum. I need to grow up… _now_." He sounded so strangely… serious… for himself.

"We all do." He said. "Roxas… you know mom and dad wouldn't want things like this. They'd want us to just let everything out - and then let everything go."

I saw a look appear on Roxas's face. A look of recognition? Remembrance? Understanding? Something like that… I wasn't positive.

"Mom ran away from home as a teenager…" Spoke Roxas. "She never got in touch with her family again. She never wanted to." He stopped, his eyes met with Sora's. "Dad's mom passed away a couple years back - and he never knew his father, nor did he ever have any siblings…"

Sora nodded slowly. "All they ever really had was us."

"Do you…" I began to ask, wondering if I should or not. "Have a point to these facts?"

"Yeah." The brunette said to me. His face was still and his voice was emotionless. "They're not gonna need a memorial service. Or anything. We have no one we need to contact about them. The cops have taken care of all the real legal stuff. We have no inheritance. Mom and Dad never left a will or anything of that sort… it's sad, but…" He paused. "It's kind of like they never existed."

"That's a rough way to put it…" I mumbled.

"Well, our parents would have liked it this way. They were strange people - they liked to keep to themselves. They liked to do things on whims and not regret the bad choices. They were people who liked to have fun and not worry. I remember… when Grandma died… my dad just took her ashes and brought us all down to Six Flags. Then he let her ashes out on the biggest roller coaster and she just flew off into nowhere…" Sora seemed distant as he spoke.

"We laughed that entire weekend." Roxas smirked sadly at the memory.

Riku and I glanced at each other. I could tell he didn't know what to do or say, same as me. The two brothers were both thinking of something - they had the same idea. But they had yet to reveal what it was.

It was really pulling me into suspense.

Sora spoke after a few moments. "Today." His fragile fingers ran through his spikes as he swallowed some air. "Just going to stand in front of that pile of ash. To tell them we'll miss them. To let all of the things we're thinking just… come out. And then we can leave and get on with everything else." A tiny look of regret filled his face. I assumed it was hard for him to say that he could just 'get on with everything else' as he put it. But there was something else on his face that said otherwise - that he _had_ to move on. Maybe it was because he knew that his parents really _would_ want that.

I looked at Roxas. He seemed a bit straight-faced. Maybe he didn't even think of it as a decision or a choice - but something, just like his brother, that he _had _to do.

"Whatever you think you should do." I saw Riku looking at Sora with concern… and love.

"It's quicker this way." Sora told his boyfriend. "Like ripping off a bandaid."

When he put it that way, it made sense.

"So… are you gonna… put like… flowers… in front of the…" I cleared my throat. "Er… house? Or something?" It felt like an extremely strange question for me to ask.

"Even better." A smile appeared on his face. It seemed to ease Riku noticeably.

Riku, Roxas, and I looked at Sora with curiosity.

"Riku - let's take your car and go to Quickee." The brunette basically commanded. "Roxas, Axel - put some clothes on!"

And in that last sentence - I knew Sora was _very_ quickly recovering.

But I guess it was apparently in his DNA. Same with Roxas. They were both strong (although they had their times) like their parents.

"You got it!" I said, grinning as I finally stood up from the bed to go find some comfortable clothes.

I tossed Roxas another one of my t-shirts and a pair of my skinny jeans. He grinned briefly at me before running off to the bathroom while Sora and Riku went to go wait for us in Riku's car.

In my room, I threw another pair of skinny jeans I had (except these were black) over my red boxers. These jeans were a lot more comfortable than the ones I had worn at the club. Over that, I threw on a dark gray hoodie (with Gir from Invader Zim on the front) without bothering to change my white shirt. I was feeling rather lazy - and I didn't think Sora, Riku, or Roxas would be paying much attention to my outfit anyways.

I tossed on my ratty old red Converse, grabbed my phone, and walked out into my living room to see Roxas just emerging out of the bathroom - looking perfect in the clothes I had lent him.

"You ready?" I asked him, not exactly just talking about his clothing.

Blondie nodded at me and walked towards the door. "Are you?" He asked, and he hinted that he didn't just mean my clothing either.

"As always…" I replied, coming up right behind him as he opened the door.

After I knew the door was locked, I jogged down the stairs right after Roxas and made my way out into the fresh Summer air.

I saw Riku in the driver seat of his much-bigger-than-Kenny car. Sora sat next to him in the passenger's. That left the back to Roxas and I.

Riku had started the car up once he had seen Roxas and I. We both trotted over and climbed in the back.

I was immediately wondering how the rest of the day would play out. It got me nervous, to be honest. I didn't think I could handle seeing any more dramatic tears. Especially from Roxy.

"So what are we needing at Quickee?" I decided to ask as we pulled out of my driveway.

"You'll see." Replied Sora.

I think I heard a smile in his voice, but he didn't turn to face me - so I couldn't be sure.

As Roxas quietly looked out the window, I studied him. He seemed rather relaxed and calm. His hair was a bit messy from not combing it out - but other than that he looked just perfect. He always looked perfect to me, though. I desperately wanted to know what he was thinking about at that precise minute.

Before I had a chance to even look away from Roxas, we were pulling into the Quickee that was just down the street from my house.

All four of us silently got out and wandered into the convenience store. I watched Sora as he immediately went to the candy aisle and got… two Hershey's bars?

"Candy?" I asked skeptically. I couldn't believe that was all he wanted to go to Quickee for.

"Not just candy…" The brunette said. "Hershey bars."

I blinked at him. Then I tapped on Roxas's shoulder.

Before I could even ask him what the Hershey's were for - he answered.

"Mom and Dad were _obsessed_ with Hershey bars. _Plain_ Hershey bars. It was their favorite thing in the whole world." Explained my friend.

"Ah." I said in understanding. "Like you and cherry coke?"

A smile played on Roxas's lips. "Like me and cherry coke."

"Speaking of which - would you like me to buy you another one while we're here?" I offered to Roxy.

"Nah." Replied Roxas.

_What?_

"You're kidding. Right?" Flicking a strand of my red hair out of my face as I watched Sora purchase the candy and exchange a word or two with Riku a few feet from me - I just had to guess Roxas was kidding. He had never turned down cherry coke in his life.

"I'm not in the mood for it right now." He said simply.

I moaned. "Ohhh, I can't stand this anymore!"

But I let the subject drop after that as we all walked out of the Quickee. Roxas's brother had a little brown paper bag in his possession. And I was pretty sure it was the first time since I've ever met Roxas that I saw him leaving a Quickee empty-handed and without his cherry coke.

It made me strangely emotional.

Our little crew piled into the RikuMobile and we stayed quiet as we buckled and made our way back out onto the street.

I looked out the window for lack of a better thing to do. The sky was completely gray and the ground was damp from the past night's storm. It looked like it could easily rain again. I had to say - it didn't come _close_ to looking anything like Summer. The weather made everything so much more dreary and dull.

After getting lost in my pointless thoughts over the weather - I noticed we were pulling to a stop - right across the street from a complete and utter mess.

That complete and utter mess was none other than Sora and Roxas's humble abode that wasn't quite a humble abode any longer.

"Oh my…" Started my best friend. His voice broke in a thousand places. He sounded completely shattered. I guess he didn't realize how bad it actually was. I knew _I _didn't.

Roxas pushed his door open and ran right across the street to collapse in front of what was once a very beautiful home. Sora slowly followed after him - the candy bars still in his grasp.

Riku and I got out of the car but both - as if we read each other's minds - decided to stay right with the car. We leaned on it and stayed completely silent as we watched the people we loved mourn - or whatever it was they were doing.

Both of their backs were turned to us. They seemed to be talking, though. A part of me longed to know what they were conversing about.

And a part of me also did _not_ want to know.

"You think they'll really let it go that easily?" Riku's voice pierced my thoughts.

"Who knows?" I replied. By that point, I decided anything was possible.

"Yeah…" His arms were folded and he kept them folded as he turned his gaze away from the two brothers to face the total opposite way. I still stared on.

I couldn't believe the house wreck. It was horrible - a complete disaster. A very small part of the porch still stood standing - but was burned black around the edges - and everything behind it just looked like dark black chunks of… house and ash. It was a rough sight.

It seemed like years that the brothers stayed in front of the 'house'. I wasn't complaining - I just wished I knew how things were going with them.

I ended up resting my head on the car and closing my eyes. I could feel the wind starting up, and I could feel the quiet presence of Riku next to me. I kept seeing Roxas's face behind my eyelids.

More time went by. I almost fell into a sort of slumber as I stood there with my eyes closed for so long like that.

And even after it felt like centuries - I finally heard feet shuffling towards the car.

I picked my head up. Both boys looked _exhausted_. They looked empty, too. They looked like a sick kid looked after he had just puked up his guts.

But a part of them also looked completely relieved. And I knew they would be their typically strong selves and do what the set out to do - let things go.

As Sora and Roxas came towards us - I realized that the candy was no longer with them. I looked over Roxas's shoulder and sure enough, there was two candy bars resting on the somewhat porch. Completely wrapped and freshly bought - they sat there, looking ten times more sad than any flower could. Because those candy bars _meant_ something.

Riku had turned around and Sora had run in to hug him. I looked at Roxas.

"You alright?" Walking closer to him, I asked.

"Never better." He answered unconvincingly. He looked like he was trying, though.

What I wanted to do was comfort him. I wanted to pull him into a hug, to tell him reassuring things, and to kiss his pain away.

But all I could do was stare at him. I was too afraid to do anything - and I didn't know why. Maybe it was the dream. All I could see was Reno telling me that Roxas didn't want me at a time like this.

After many moments, I realized my chance had gone by and everyone was piling into the car. That was that. Now apparently all of the problems were suppose to go out the window.

I wasn't at all surprised when I saw both Sora and Roxas's eyes glued to the very porch where the candy bars sat. By the time Riku had turned off the street - their heads were still directly facing behind them - as if they could will the car to move backwards and take them home where they belonged.

"So… where are we going now?" Asked Riku cautiously, breaking the silence.

No one answered.

"We can go back to my place. Maybe we could order pizza or something. None of us have eaten in _hours_." I suggested, trying to lighten the mood.

"Sounds perfect, Axe." Agreed Roxas.

I smiled at him.

Sora nodded at the idea as well.

"Axel's then." Nodded the silver haired boyfriend of Sora.

So that was it. In a couple sentences we had gone from a memorial service to a fucking pizza party. Excellent.

I stayed quiet for the rest of the ride. I paid attention to only the hunger in the pit of my stomach. I pretended nothing else really mattered.

Before long though, we had reached my lovely little apartment. We weren't the most jolly group of boys - even as we called up Pizza Hut and ordered two extra large pepperoni pizzas with a couple two-liters of Coke.

After ordering the pizza we kind of just… relaxed. All of us were fairly quiet. Riku sat on my couch with Sora in his lap - while Roxas and I sat awkwardly next to them.

A few minutes had passed of this awkward silence before someone knocked on my door.

I couldn't believe the pizza could be so fast. I stood up off the couch with money in hand to answer the door.

And in strode Demyx.

"Oh my gosh! You guys! Where did you all _go_ last night?! You _missed_ it! I totally hooked up with this amazingly hot dude named Zexion. Sexy, isn't it? He's the most smartest and most beautiful man in the world! No. No. _The universe_! You _need_ to meet him! I think I'm in _love_." Holding a hand to his heart, Demyx grinned and looked dreamily into space as he stood in my living room - breaking all of the silence.

"That's great Demyx." Roxas told him. I could tell he was trying his best to sound excited - but somewhat failed.

"Man, you guys look like you all just walked out of a _morgue_." Was all Sitar-Man had to say as a reply.

Sora and Roxas blinked.

I tried not to hide my head in my hands.

And even though Demyx was an idiot - Sora decided to open his mouth and explain the whole story to him.

I didn't want to hear all the misery all over again, so I went in my kitchen to grab cups and plates. But even as I tried droning things out with clangs and clatters of dishes - I still heard Sora's low voice and Demyx's occasional sound of shock or sorrow.

By the time I made my way back out into the living room, Sora was wrapping up the tale of woe. Demyx's eyes were big and watery (he was an emotional lad, he was) and his jaw would have been hitting my floor if possible.

"…And that's why this morning - after coming to Axel's - I decided it would be best to play it like our parents did, and just get over everything. 'Every day is a new day.' And all that." Sora told Demyx, actually grinning at his last sentence.

Mullet-Brain ran one of his hands through his … mullet, processing all of the new information. It seemed to me that he even forgot all about his precious Sexion… or whatever he said his name was.

"You poor things!" He screeched suddenly and looked back and forth from Sora to Roxas. He then ran to Roxas and gave him a giant hug - one in which Roxas looked like he lost oxygen for at least three seconds. Then he repeated the action on Sora, until Riku kicked him in the knee anyways.

After the hugging fiesta, Demyx smiled and cleared his throat. "I say… I take you all out for ice cream! My treat! I can call up the gang and we can all hang. Hey! I made a rhyme! But anyways, what do you guys say?" Sitar Man seemed pleased with himself.

The four of us just stared at him and blinked. He was by the far the weirdest person I had ever met in my lifetime.

"Ooh! And I can call Zexy and you can meet him, too!" The sandy blonde clapped happily.

"Sexy?" Riku asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No. _Zexy_." Demyx grinned, sounding like he was in dreamland.

"I'm still hearing Sexy." Admitted Riku, sounding annoyed.

"No! It's _Zexy_! Short for _Zexion_! You know… with a Z for… zipper! Speaking of zippers and Zexion, last night I…"

"Nevermind! I got it. Zexion." Riku practically shouted. He didn't want to hear the rest of Demyx's story. I was sure no one did. I know _I_ didn't.

"You know what, sure, ice cream and a group hang sound good right now! And I'd _love_ to meet your Zexy, Demyx." Smiled Sora.

"Glad to hear it, my brother!" Proclaimed Demyx in a very gay voice. My brother? He was a hippie now?

"Yeah. I agree with Sora." Chimed in Roxas.

Demyx whooped.

Riku and I just looked at each other and shrugged.

"But first, we already ordered pizza. He should be here any-" I began to say.

I was interrupted by another knock on my door.

"Minute." I continued with a chuckle as I headed towards the door.

After paying the delivery dude (who had really nice sunglasses, I must say) I pulled everything into the living room and set it on the coffee table next to the glasses and plates.

"Dig in, guys. Dem, you can have some too." I said.

"Nah, I just had lunch. But thanks anyways. Save room for ice cream, Kiddos." He winked at us.

Demyx was such a fucking crack head.

We all ate without talking much. I knew it was because we were all _starving_, and so therefore, shoving food in our pie holes.

The only noise I really heard was Demyx spinning back and forth in my office chair, while the rest of us chewed and slurped like pigs.

It was quite a charming and sophisticated little pizza party if you asked me.

I found myself full before anyone else. After I put my dish and cup away so I could go sit back down with my friends, I couldn't help myself from just staring at Roxas.

He even ate adorably!

I felt eyes burning into the side of my head, though. So I had to look away from Roxas to the source of the 'I'm being stared at' feeling.

It was Sitar-Man - giving me one of his stupid looks saying 'I know what you're doing' kind of thing. He was very smug. I basically gave him a look that said, 'Yeah I can stare at Roxas all the hell I want' with a smile on my face.

Or maybe I just had pizza sauce on my face and he thought I looked stupid.

Either way, everyone was starting to finish and clean up, and before I knew it we were getting ready to head out the door and go to I Scream, the only ice cream place in our town.

Demyx was dialing numbers on his cell like crazy. I heard things like, "Oh my God, Kai! Get your skinny ass down to I Scream _now_." And "Nom Nom! Yeah, it's Dem Dem. Where are you? Oh. Well turn around and head to I Scream, okay?" And "CLOUD! Put down your freaking hair gel and get you and your sex toy down to I Scream. MOVE IT!"

But above all things disturbing, I heard this: "Oh! Zexy? Hi, Baby. What you wearing today? Oh. Really? That's sounds so… _sexy. _Hahah! Anyways, Sugar Stick, get your cute little butt down to I Scream. I want you to meet some of my friends. Thank you, my baby! Bye!"

Good Lord.

We were all sitting in Riku's car once again. Roxas was squished between Demyx and I while Sora and Riku had front like before. And every single one of us stared at Demyx with visible twitching.

"What?" He asked us innocently.

I shook my head. Roxas chuckled. And Riku sucked in a breath of air while Sora noisily snorted.

And away we drove to I Scream.

The clouds had cleared up a lot more from earlier in the day. The sun was finally shining and the ground looked my dry.

I hoped it was a good omen.

As we pulled into the familiar ice cream place parking lot I immediately saw a cluster of my close friends.

There was Namine and Kairi talking with their heads close together, and next to them was Cloud and Leon… erm… also talking… with their heads close together except I don't think they were gossiping or telling secrets. And then there was this unfamiliar face standing with them. He looked like a typical emo kid.

"My Zexy!" Screamed Demyx suddenly as he burst out of the car and ran into the arms of the emo kid.

An emo kid with _Demyx_? Dear fucking God. How did that work? How could silence and depression meet with loud, obnoxious, crazy, and over happy?

I guess opposites attract or something.

"Whoa." Roxas nudged me. I assumed he was ogling at Demyx as I was.

"Yeah. I know." I replied, smiling as I got out of the car.

All four of us made our way to our group. Demyx was talking hurriedly to every single one of them while clutching Zexion's hand. Zexion had this complete straight face that looked like it had never held a facial expression before.

Riku, Sora, Roxas, and I looked somewhat left out. It looked like they were conspiring something - but maybe they weren't.

After a few moments of this, Namine turned around and ran up to Roxas. "Oh! My poor, poor sweetheart!" She cried out, hugging him. She turned her bleach blonde head to Sora before flipping it back to Roxas. "I'm so sorry about you guys's parents!"

Her skinny little arms clutched around _my_ Roxy's shoulders. Her head nuzzled in his neck. He looked a bit surprised but his arms _did_ loosely fit around her.

I had a strange urge to growl.

"Yeah, guys. That's horrible. I hope everything works out okay." Leon looked from Sora to Roxas.

Sora just nodded a bit. "It will."

Riku put an arm around him.

When Demyx dragged the emo kid up to us, Namine _finally_ broke the hug. But she held onto Roxas's arm like he was hers - when he was definitely _mine_.

"Zexion - I would like you to officially meet Riku, Sora, Axel, and Roxas!" Grinned the Sitar-Man.

"Hello." The emo bitch with the kind of blue-ish hair greeted lamely.

All of us greeted back - but, man - I still couldn't get how the two could end up together.

"So!" Piped up Kairi, slinging an arm around Demyx and Zexion. I assumed Zexion had met everyone else at the club. "Six Flags opened back up yesterday. How about tomorrow we all go? It would be a great way to kick off the Summer and it would also be a great way to make Sora and Roxas feel better!"

I thought it was a great idea, personally. So I agreed. Apparently, everyone else thought it was a good idea too because not a single person protested.

"Ooh, Roxy! If I go on the roller coaster will you go on with me so someone can hold my hand?" Kairi's best friend cooed into Roxas's ear.

Now it didn't seem like such a good idea after all.

"You know, most of us _do_ have work on Monday." I said, trying to think of a way to undo this.

"Not until the afternoon, Axe! Plus - they may let us take the day off." Roxas spoke up.

So he _wanted_ to be mauled by the dumb blonde bitch? Excellent.

Roxas and I worked together at GameStop. It was one of the best jobs in the universe. Plus, we could easily get any video games we wanted this way.

"We took a day off last week!" I was in a bit of a panic. I didn't think I could handle Namine and Roxas being all over each other.

Oh God, did he like her? Fuck.

"Yeah, but they'll let us! Trust me." Pleaded Roxas.

Trust me - he said. I could see in his eyes that he truly wanted to go.

"Fine." I mumbled, giving in.

"Thank you!" Smiled my blondie before releasing himself from Namine and wrapping his arms around me in a side-hug.

I couldn't help but feel myself melt at his touch.

Maybe it would be okay after all…

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**So sorry for the short-ness. I just felt like it should end there.**

**And don't worry - if you have questions - they WILL be answered.**

**REVIEW!!!**


	5. Five: Roxas

**Hello again! I updated much quicker than planned because DARKANGELGRL22567 wouldn't stop hounding me. So there may be some mistakes since I didn't get a chance to fully edit. But it is here for you.**

**I have a feeling y'all will like this chappie. ;)**

**DISCLAIMER: Woe is me. I own nothing but a cardboard box. (What?)**

**REVIEW! AND THANKS TO: Naive-Symphony, , DarkAngelGrl22567, The Foolish Author, and Valinda Blade!**

* * *

**The Promises of Summer**

**Chapter Five**

**Point of View: Roxas**

I loved the smell of WalMart. It was just so… WalMart-y.

I especially loved the electronics section. That place was like my haven. Everything was so shiny and new and I wanted to take everything home. Me going to the electronics section in WalMart was like… a drunk, horny guy going into a club FULL of gorgeous, easy chicks. In this metaphor - I was the drunk, horny guy and the electronics were all the beautiful babes.

Anyway, Axel and I were browsing for a new laptop for myself. Along with a phone charger. And some new clothes. Everything I was getting was going to equal up to about a month's paycheck.

Riku and Sora had dropped us off at Axel's after the ice cream hang out. Then we immediately jumped in my car and ended up here.

I noticed how much better I was starting to feel. I had had some closure with my parents - which made me feel a lot less guilty and anxious to be quite honest. Plus, the long talk I had with my brother in front of our house made me feel a great deal better as well.

As I looked at one of the cheap, but fairly good Acer laptops I replayed our conversation.

I had collapsed in front of the house we once lived in. I could feel those damn tears being released from my eyes again. I hadn't even bothered to wipe them away at the time, though. They felt right to be there as I sat and stared at the porch my brother and I played on as kids.

Sora came and knelt beside me. The bag of Hershey bars were in his grasp. It was just a tiny paper bag filled with candy bars, but it seemed like something so much more important.

"Are you alright, Rox? I know… it's a bit… shocking." His voice was so soft I almost couldn't hear him.

"I'm fine." I lied to him. I didn't want him to be worrying about me. I was the one who had done it!

I watched him as he slowly stood back up and walked over to the porch with the paper bag swaying in his fingers.

He very carefully, as if they were fragile and precious, pulled one Hershey bar out at a time. He laid them down parallel next to each other on the porch right above the stairs. My chest felt heavy and my heart ached. Everything was going to be so different.

"Do you want to come here, Roxas?" Sora asked me from the porch where he stood. His face looked pale.

I shook my head no. I could hardly stand it from where I was sitting.

The brunette shrugged and made his way back to me, plopping down beside me and sitting Indian style like they made us do in Kindergarten.

"Mom and Dad wouldn't want us worrying about things." He told me simply.

"I know." I replied.

I _did_ know that. I knew that they would want us partying with friends rather than just sitting in front of a useless pile of ash and crying like girls.

But it was so hard to be happy and have fun when all you could think about was how you ruined lives.

"Listen, little bro." My brother began. "We can't do anything about this now. We have to cope."

I've heard _that_ before.

"It's our last Summer. After this - will just be work and adulthood and… a shitty future in the twenty-first century." He smiled at me. "We need to enjoy it. So get a new laptop and start up your writing again. Think that you're staying at Axel's because it's an extra long sleepover. Go shopping for clothes and go to an amusement park with our friends." Mock-ordering, his smiled a bit bigger at me.

"We have to find bright sides." Sora added. "Or we'll forever be lost in darkness."

Lost in darkness? I couldn't help thinking that he played way too many fantasy video games…

"We _are_ the offspring of our parents, after all." Playing with one of his spikes, I saw that Sora finally had a full grin stretched on his cheeks. It made me smile back.

Maybe he was right. Maybe I should just skip over the long depression phase and go straight to enjoying life.

Leave it to Sora and his optimism, I always caught it like a virus.

"You have a point." I admitted.

"Speaking of our parents, you know how much they always wanted you and Axe to get together. I think you should respect their wishes…" Slyly, he said.

"Don't start. Not now." I begged, exasperated.

"I never _did_ get a chance to find out about this so called 'crush' but Riku did tell me that he didn't deny that he was in love with you when Riku mentioned it and…" Sora started rambling. What the hell happened to our parents? We were sitting in front of their ashes and he was going on and on like a high school boy.

"Whoa. What?!" I asked, not sure what he was talking about.

"Riku said, "You totally love him." To Axel - meaning _you_. And Riku said that Axel didn't say anything so that means he didn't deny it which means he loves you!" Sora was practically singing.

"Shh." I hissed.

But then I couldn't help myself.

"Really?" I had to ask.

I even dealt with the many mental smacks I was giving myself. I completely ignored them. When it came to Axel, well - to hell with morals.

"Yeah! Maybe the crush he mentioned was you." My brother looked overjoyed.

At least my brother cared about me.

I doubted Axel was talking about _me_. I remember it sounded like he was talking about one of _our_ friends.

Then again, I didn't remember the conversation very much. It had only been the day before but it felt like it happened years earlier.

"You wanna know something?" I began to ask, wondering if it was a good idea telling him.

"Hmm?" He asked me, curious and wide-eyed.

"We kissed last night." I answered.

The brunette I call my brother gasped and then grinned madly. "Finally!"

"We're not together though. I don't think." I informed him. "I mean - it was… we were… weird last night."

Sora looked at me like I should be saying more.

"I mean, I had been horrible to him at the club. I had just been _so_ upset for some reason that he liked someone else. I don't know why. I just got so pessimistic and bitter about it all. So jealous. And you _know_ me, I'm not a jealous person!" I rambled, confessing a lot.

He nodded.

"I even tried getting drunk because I was so _pissed_ about it. I was so mad at him and he didn't even do anything. Just thinking about it makes me mad at _myself_." I went on.

"Roxas. It's normal. And it's okay. It passed didn't it? Did you guys apologize to each other?" Asked Sora.

"Of course." I replied.

"And I'm sure he doesn't like anyone else. I can't read his mind but… I _can_ read his face. And I can tell that he is extremely worried about you." My older brother looked sincere.

I just sighed, not sure of what to say to that.

"He _is_ my best friend, Sor." I shrugged. A best friend _should_ be concerned. It was their job.

"Yeah, well. Riku is _my_ best friend." A grin escaped on my brother's lips once more.

His words set hope through me. It was like an adrenaline rush. Riku had been Sora's best friend like Axel was mine - and now Riku and Sora were so completely in love.

"I want mom's cheesecake right now." I said randomly, changing the subject.

Sora dropped his head. "So do I." He moaned.

"Sorry." I whispered.

"Mom. You made the _best_ cheesecake - EVER." Sora spoke to the house.

I blinked.

Cheesecake. We ended up talking about Mom's _cheesecake_.

The thought that I would never get her cheesecake again created a lump in my throat.

Apparently my older brother noticed.

"Roxas? Do you want to head back to the car? We're making Riku and Axel wait anyways…" Suggested Sora.

"In a minute." I told him. "I'm not quite ready to just leave this all behind yet."

"You really should _try_. For your sake, for my sake, and for Mom and Dad's sake." He said shakily.

"Like ripping off a bandaid…" I whispered, remembering the earlier statement.

"Exactly." Sora agreed, looking at me with a smile in his eyes.

I tried to forget how upset I was. Sadness still lingered within me and it was hard to just keep it bottled up.

But I _had_ to. It was the right thing to do in my situation.

And so… feeling drained and heavy all at once - we both walked back to the car. It made me feel funny to see Sora run into Riku's arms. Everything must have been so much easier for Sora.

I just looked at Axel dumbly in that moment. I wanted to run into _his_ arms. But I would have felt stupid.

It just made me more sad.

But it had been hours since that conversation with Sora.

"Get it!" Axel grinned at me hopefully as he motioned to the Acer I had been spacing out at for God knows how long.

"Oh. Um…" I was a little startled. I hadn't _actually _been gawking at the laptop because I wanted it. My mind had just been wandering. "Sure." I shrugged when I saw the price.

My best friend looked then grabbed one of the Acer boxes on the shelf underneath the display computers.

He gave me his adorable half-smile and I felt my face go red.

"To the phone chargers?" Questioned Axel.

I nodded.

He kept on carrying the Acer box for me. I thought it was nice. I hated carrying anything remotely heavy and he knew that.

~_~_~_~_~

By the end of the night I had picked up a new charger, that Acer laptop, and a few outfits.

As we were stowing the stuff in the trunk, Axel looked at me hopefully and asked, "Can I offer you a cherry coke _now_?"

I gave him a smile. "Sure."

I was _very_ in the mood for some cherry coke.

"YAY!" Ecstatically squealing, Axel jumped up and down before he got in the passenger's seat.

I rolled my eyes in a loving way as I sat down in Kenny - ready to drive us to Quickee.

"Thank God for my Debit Card." I spoke up as I pulled out of the parking lot.

The redhead chuckled beside me. "Amen." He joked.

I started up my stupid thinking again. Last night - in this very car - the two of us had acted so different with each other.

Now it was back to our usual thing. Just like that.

I almost brought it up. It was on the tip of my tongue. I don't know why these things are so hard for people. I wondered why anything having to do with love, sex, crushing… made everyone so damn _nervous_ and embarrassed.

I also wondered why these things changed lives. Why was any of it such a big deal?

Like… why was it _so_ nerve-wracking to ask Axel why we ended up kissing? What would he even say?

I was betting on the fact that he just wanted to get my mind off of everything. Maybe he wanted to get his mind off his brother, too. It sounded like the most logical explanation.

I sighed a long sigh as I stopped at a red light.

A few weeks ago from today - I was a completely different person. A few weeks ago from today, Axel was just my best friend. I had great parents. I had a future.

Now what was I?

I had no future, no parents, and I couldn't look at Axel without internally bleeding.

…At least that's what it felt like.

The guy was making my brain want to explode with questions, and my heart want to explode with strange feelings!

Ever since I realized that I was in love with Axel - I couldn't look away from him. I would get jealous and moody so quickly. I took everyday words that he said and would twist them, wondering if they meant something more.

It was insanity.

"Um… Roxie? You okay?" The devil himself asked me, interrupting my thoughts.

"Uh. Yeah. Why?" I blinked.

"Because, Love, you're just sitting in front of a green light and you have cars honking at you." The redhead grinned and batted his eyes at me.

"Oh, Shit!" I shrieked, realizing that everything he said was true.

I slammed on the gas as the angry honks behind me kept coming.

Axel burst into laughter.

"God, I love you." He said through his fit.

Axel always said that to me. It was like a way of saying, "You're so stupid that it's funny and I love it…"

But at that moment when I heard him say it - it made me feel all girly.

Which was bad, because I am indeed, a male.

I also wondered why when someone said 'I love you' one moment, another moment when they say it could mean something entirely different. It could make a person _feel_ entirely different.

I sighed again, not wanting to think about the subject of love anymore. I was pulling into the Quickee anyway.

The minute we were both out of the car, Axel shouted, "Race ya!"

And off he went. Already practically at the door before I could even process what happened.

I sighed, chuckling, and shook my head.

Typical Axel.

"I won!" He gloated after I had calmly walked up to meet him.

"Congrats." I told him.

He ruffled my hair. "You're no fun."

I turned and stuck my tongue out at him.

"I'll make you buy your own coke." He teased.

"Fine." Grabbing one of the fountain cups, I began to fill it up with cherry coke.

"Just kidding. I'm paying." Axel said to me as he filled up his own.

"Nope. You just said-" I was purposely trying to annoy him. Apparently it worked because he ripped the soda out of my hand once I had put the cover on and slammed his and mine both down on the counter as he whipped out his wallet.

I laughed.

After Axel had paid he handed me my beloved beverage.

"Thank you!" I grinned, throwing the arm that wasn't holding the drink around him.

I might have been trying a little too hard to be in a good mood. But I don't think Axel noticed.

"Anything for _you_." My best friend replied as he kissed me on the temple once we were by the car.

Great. He was making the kissing-my-head thing a new habit.

The contact of his lips had surprised me so much that I had almost dropped my cherry soda.

…That would have been sad. And embarrassing. But mostly sad. I loved my cherry coke.

~_~_~_~_~

Axel's house was nice and cool once we stepped in. It was beginning to get dark outside, but it was still extremely warm. I had all my new 'toys' bundled up in my arms. I set them on his kitchen table.

The first thing I did after throwing away my empty fountain cup, was to open up my new phone charger and plug my phone in. I almost died without using my phone for a day.

And, not to my surprise, I had twenty-eight new text messages and six new voicemails. Great.

I was too lazy to check them, so I just left the phone plugged into the wall.

Axel sighed in relaxation as he plopped down in one of his chairs. "So we're going to Six Flags tomorrow…" He stated.

"Mmhmm." I replied, nodding.

I wasn't exactly _excited_ to go. But I knew that it would be way more fun than sitting around at Axel's.

Plus, I thought it really was a wonderful way to distract me.

I started setting up my new laptop. Although, surprisingly, I wasn't in much of a writing mood.

"Need any help?" My friend asked politely.

"No thanks. I'm all good." I shot him a happy smile.

I saw the redhead get a funny look on his face for a second or two. As soon as it went away he spoke again. "You know, it's obvious that you're trying too hard."

I closed my eyes and dropped my head on the table.

So much for him not noticing.

"Hey…" He said, I could hear him getting up to come near me. "I just thought you should know."

"Can't you just play along?" I asked him in an annoyed tone. My voice was muffled.

"No. Because I know you're not happy. Which makes me not happy. And I'm not good at acting." I heard Axel's cocky smile in his voice.

"Sorry." I mumbled into the table.

He groaned.

I looked up at him. Well technically, down, he was kneeling next to the chair I was sitting in.

"You need to stop doing that." He gave me a lopsided grin.

He put his cheek against my knee.

And I swear I spent a whole five minutes deciding if I should dare run my hands through his hair at least once - or if I should not.

"Promise me you'll be happier tomorrow?" He asked me in a cute, little voice as he stayed right where he was.

"Um. I don't know if I can promise something like that." I informed him honestly.

"Just do it. Make me feel better."

"Okay." I chuckled softly. "I promise."

He finally lifted his head to look at me. "Good."

And then in an instant, we were doing it again. The thing where we wouldn't look away from each other. It was this 'intense chemistry' kind of feeling.

I could feel myself getting out of breath, my heart was beating in my throat. I was tired.

And I had only just been sitting and staring.

Again - I found myself trapped. I wanted to escape but I had no way out. It was like I was surrounded by Axel. All I could see was him.

"I'm gonna take a shower." Axel piped up suddenly, jumping to his feet.

"Um. Okay." I replied, not sure what had just happened.

"Be out in a bit." He smiled at me.

And as he stepped into the bathroom I found myself very distracted.

Axel was in a tiny room.

Getting naked. And wet.

I swallowed. Then I smacked myself mentally again.

I started typing on my new laptop.

I never planned what I would write. I would just start writing.

And before I knew it I would have a story.

I promised myself to look nowhere but at the laptop screen. I wanted to block out all my thoughts of a naked Axel.

And so, my fingers started hitting the keys. It was like I was in a trance. I never stopped to think about what I was writing.

For the next twenty minutes or so, all I could hear was the soft clacking of my typing and the running water in the bathroom. I felt relaxed for the first time in basically a whole twenty-four hours.

And as I punched out the rest of a paragraph I had been working on, Axel emerged. Steam cascaded behind him. All he wore was a pair of his skinny jeans (which was all he owned for bottoms - no shorts, no regular jeans, just skinny) and no shirt.

His red hair drooped down to his shoulders and I could see his defined muscles on his arms and his abs. Right below his belly button I could even make out a trace of a thin, light happy trail of red hair. (_**AN**_: **DARKANGELGRL22567 - think about the conversation on the bridge! Sorry… continuing with the story…**)

I tried to keep a completely normal look on my face. I wondered if I was succeeding or not.

So I buried my nose back into my laptop. And that's when I realized I had written fifteen full pages in twenty minutes.

I had created a story about two boys who were best friends, but one was secretly in love with the other. It was a short story about how one of the boys tried _every_ day to tell the other one about his feelings, until it was too late and his best friend ended up dying in some freak accident.

I blinked at my own work. I had never done anything so strange in my life. Apparently it was a mix of things going on in my own world.

I hadn't completely finished it. But I was close. I decided I wanted to take a break, though and I found myself thinking about it.

What would ever happen if Axel _died_ before I could tell him?

I shook my head to myself. I wouldn't let that happen. I had to tell him _soon_.

Then again, that's what the boy in my story always said.

But anyways… Axel couldn't die on me! He promised he would never leave me.

I slammed the laptop closed and stood up.

I was thinking _way_ too much and _way_ too weirdly. The thought of Axel dying freaked me out completely.

"Write anything good?" A perfectly live Axel stood, towel drying his hair.

He still looked beautiful without his shirt.

"Uh. I'm not sure. I haven't finished." I said truthfully. I had forgotten he was watching me have a fit with myself as he leaned against the wall next to the bathroom.

"You can take a shower if you want…" He suggested. "But I kind of ran out of clean T-shirts. I'm gonna start up the wash, but they won't be done for a while. You can wear one of your new shirts if you want - but I'd save them for when you go out if I were you."

I nodded, standing up. A shower sounded good.

I decided I would just throw on my skinny jeans that I had worn to the club. I hung them up in Axel's bathroom, so they would suffice until we went to bed.

I grabbed one of my new boxers out of the Wal-Mart bag and headed past Axel (who was so completely hot that it made me nervous) into the bathroom.

So I would have to go without a shirt. It's not like I was never shirtless around Axel… I just suddenly felt extremely insecure. I wasn't _half_ as hot as he was. It was surprising at the amount of people I've met that thought I was attractive - but compared to Axel I was nothing.

As I got undressed and turned on the shower, I started thinking about all people I'd dated in my entire high school career up to Junior year.

There was, of course, Namine. But we were the type who just held hands and that was about it. She had always tried kissing me - but she creeped me out for some reason. Namine was kind of psychotic in all honesty, and even now she comes up to me and thinks we're going to be getting married.

I turned the shower on and felt the warm water hit my skin. It was nice.

Then, there was Hayner. Hayner was Demyx's younger brother who was my age. He was the guy who had made me realize that I also liked guys. When I dated Hayner, most of the school thought I was completely gay. Especially because I would never kiss Namine - when I kissed Hayner all the time. I dated him from the end of Freshman year to the end of the Summer before Sophomore year.

He was like 'my first love' kind of things. Although it was more like puppy love. I had been completely obsessed with Hayner when I dated him, but when I compared the feeling to the one I had for Axel it was _so_ different. Besides, Hayner _always_ screamed at me. Him and I would get into intense arguments that sometimes turned into violent fights.

I remember how much Axel and Demyx would scream at me to dump him. Especially Axel - one time Axel threw Hayner up against a locker at school and told him that if he tried to hurt me again, he would kick his ass. That was the day that Hayner and I broke up for good, too.

I'm not sure why I didn't realize my feelings for Axel sooner. Back when I was dating Hayner would have been the perfect time for me to be like "Oh my god, Axel! I'm in love with him!" But sadly, I had only just started doing it.

I realized that I hadn't thought about Hayner in a long time. Hayner had been shipped off to some juvenile hall last time I heard from Demyx. Demyx didn't care much for his brother. And they were complete opposites (except for being gay and having the same hair color and blood type and all…)

But Hayner was hard into drugs and violence and everything else that's bad for teenager. Yeah, our group was pretty hard into the alcohol and partying - but we never did anything dangerous.

After I dated Hayner, I stopped dating for a few months. Until the Summer of Sophomore year that was. All of us had gone to the local pool once that Summer, when I met a girl named Xion. She said her family came up every Summer because they had a Summer home where we lived.

And, to me, she was the most gorgeous girl I had ever seen in my lifetime. She had very short black hair, and a face that kind of looked familiar - but I always shrugged that off. Xion and I had a summer love thing going on.

I remember her, Axel, and I used to hang out every day around the town - eating ice cream. Sometimes Axel would bring Demyx or Reno for his company because, I hated to admit it, Xion and I would just make out constantly and completely ignore Axel.

Axel never had real relationships. I'd seen him date people, and I'm sure he wasn't a virgin… but he was more like one of those guys who just looked for fun and never stayed committed. Every time he told me he had a crush or was dating someone - the next minute he could care less about them.

Which was one reason why I was afraid to get anywhere with Axel - because he might just get over me instantly. And that might possibly ruin our wonderful friendship.

Anyway, Xion was the girl I had lost my virginity to and I thought we would keep up a long distance relationship or something because we were so close. That was - until - I found out she had been dating another guy back where she lived the _entire_ time her and I were dating.

So that was when I basically said that I couldn't stand relationships. I pretty much quit after that.

There were some random make-out sessions with people here and there. But Junior Year basically stayed romance-free.

And then I started pining for Axel.

I turned off the shower, feeling completely refreshed as I toweled off and got dressed.

Well… half dressed… I wasn't wearing a shirt.

I shook out my hair like a dog. As I looked in the mirror I saw my messy, wet hair.

I also started thinking about all the people Axel had been involved with. All of them were _beautiful_. Even the guys were beautiful!

How the hell could I ever compare?

I restrained myself from hitting the mirror as I stepped out of the bathroom.

And as I stepped out I saw my best friend repeatedly punching the wall. His knuckles were bleeding pretty bad.

"Axel…" I ran over to him. I had no idea what had happened but the way he looked was so scary.

And then before I could get to him I had realized I stepped on something.

His cell phone.

It had to have been another call from Reno.

I yanked him back from the wall. "Axe, stop it. What happened?"

I had apparently jumped him. He didn't know I had come out of the bathroom. He shoved me off of him pretty hard.

It left me a little shocked.

But then his eyes caught with mine. The look on his face was of hurt and anger - until it slowly faded to something soft.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do that." He murmured, as he slid with his back against the wall.

I had never seen Axel cry - but he certainly looked like he was about to.

Instead, though, as he sat on the floor looking like a complete mess with his bloody knuckle and contorted features - he slammed his head back against the wall, _hard_.

He never cried. He only inflicted pain on himself.

"Axel!" I called out. He was beginning to really scare me. "What happened?"

His eyes closed and he shook his head.

I turned and ran into the bathroom to grab a washcloth and put some warm water on it before I made my way to kneel beside him.

If he didn't want to talk about it then I wouldn't mind. I just wanted him to stop hurting himself.

So before he could do anything else, I gently took hold of his arm so I could look at his bleeding hand. He was shaking, probably from being so worked up.

The skin was ripped and bloody on every knuckle. It sent pains through my own hand just looking at it.

I dabbed at it gently with the cloth. He never flinched or made a sound. His shaking began to die down.

After a few silent minutes, I had his knuckles cleaned up. They were ripped and bruised but I knew that they weren't broken or anything serious like that. They would heal.

A few feet above Axel's head was a cracked spot that had a little bit of smeared blood - where he had been punching.

I looked back down at Axel. His eyes were still closed - but he looked like he was trying to calm himself down.

"Reno is due to be in for a year." My best friend spoke softly, his eyes still shut. "A guy that he apparently owed _money_ to ratted him in for selling stuff to a _kid_. They also found out where Reno had been hiding his stash. He's been doing this for about three to four years. Behind my back."

Axel's face twisted in pain and it broke my heart a little.

"They set up a court date - he wants me to go. I refuse." His voice was so frighteningly straight.

I wondered if Axel got like this at home a lot. Whenever he was by himself, and was upset, would he get violent and angry? Was this really the trade off for his tears?

"Then don't go." I told him simply.

I was still holding his arm - looking at the damage he had done to his pale hand. I ran one of my fingertips over it without paying much attention.

He opened his eyes and looked at me with what seemed like admiration. I pulled his hand into my lap and held it.

It was a stupid gesture, but a part of me was kind of afraid he would start smashing it into a wall again.

"I'm sorry I shoved you earlier. I didn't mean to. You know I would never hurt-" Axel started spilling words like a waterfall.

"Axel!" I said, interrupting him. "It's fine." I ran a finger over his hand again.

Now I was acting like he was the night before. Dang.

"I can't _believe_ Reno. I _trusted_ him. It's like I can't trust _anyone_ anymore!" Axel hissed in disgust.

I looked at him. He couldn't trust me?

"Except for you, Rox." He told me quickly, realizing what he said. "You're basically the only thing that keeps me tolerating my miserable life."

Aww.

"God, I'm so fucking angsty right now." Axel gave me a half-smile.

"It happens." I chuckled, thinking about how angsty I was the night before.

The redhead smirked.

A few silent seconds went by, and then he scooted over and turned himself so he could place his head in my lap. I still held his hand - I just ended up holding it at a different angle.

Would two people who were 'just best friends' really position themselves like this?

He looked straight up into my face. I was feeling extremely self-conscious without my shirt.

"Hey." He said to me.

"Hi." I replied softly with a smile.

He looked at our hands - or maybe he was just looking at _his_ hand which happened to be connected with mine. His knuckles were scraped and bruised and probably aching - so I bet more on the second statement.

"Does it hurt?" I asked him, motioning to his hand with my head.

He shook his head no. "It stings a little but it's nothing."

I wasn't sure what influenced me to do it, but I lifted his hand up to my lips and kissed every one of his knuckles ever so lightly as to not put any pressure on it.

When I realized what I did I had to force myself not to start laughing. How lame could I be?

And then when I looked to see his face I saw a scarlet blush had formed on his cheeks.

I think he noticed that I noticed his blush - because suddenly he looked everywhere but at me. "Roxie, Roxie…" Axel hummed musingly.

I cocked my head. "What?"

He sat up a little. His face had found itself inches from mine again. "You…" He started, but he didn't look like he was going to finish.

He released his hand from mine slowly, and I just slumped back against the wall.

Suddenly I felt his thumbs sliding into the belt loop on my left and right side until his hands were completely holding on to my hips as he twisted himself in front of me.

I was speechless. In fact, I think I forgot how to breathe for a good few minutes.

"Oh, fuckit." He let out quickly and breathlessly before _completely attacking my lips_.

I let out an embarrassing moan of surprise which then turned to one of contentment as I closed my eyes.

But I got over the humiliation as his fingers started literally feeling up my hips and his kiss became more fervent.

OhmygodIwas_makingout_withAxel!

I basically just gave in to impulse and put my arms around his neck so I could bring him closer to me. I felt his bare shoulders and chest press into mine and I swear I had a heart attack. My hands got lost somewhere in his still-damp mess of red hair.

My pulse became a frightening speed when his tongue pried into my mouth and he made this adorable little noise.

His thumbs slid out of my belt loops so both of his hands could basically encircle my waist. His fingertips pressed gently into the small of my back. I reminded myself not to move back any more into the wall because it could hurt his already-wounded knuckles.

I let my tongue explore his mouth and I was having great difficulty breathing until we finally broke for air before going right back at it. His lips were so intense against mine that I could barely keep up.

Maybe that was why everyone pined after him - he was a great kisser.

I had an urge to burst into insane laughter but I held it down as his hands moved once more, trailing slowly up my stomach and my chest before they gently held up my face.

Our kisses slowed down and turned into repeated soft pecks. My hands dropped from around his neck to rest on his thighs.

He trailed one of his good fingers over my cheek once our kissing pulled to a halt. He just breathed heavily - lingering in front of my mouth.

I very carefully opened my eyes. I saw his were still shut - even as his panting turned into regular breaths.

And suddenly, he pulled my head closer to his slowly as his lips met mine once more. Except this time it was just a long, sweet kiss that I swear I would feel on me for the rest of my life.

My eyes opened once more to see his opening hesitantly.

Axel pushed some of my damp hair out of my eyes as he stared into them.

I didn't know what to do, so I dropped my head back against the wall and looked up at the ceiling.

I was scared. Literally - like… when you think someone is about to come and murder you, scared. Except I was just afraid of losing Axel like all of the people he hooked up with in the past.

Maybe to him, this was just a random make out session with a best friend.

But to me, it was anything but that.

And I was completely frightened as to what would happen next.

His hands that were on my face slid back down to wrap around my waist as I felt him adjust himself so he could put his head on my chest.

I didn't know what to make of it.

So I just rolled with it and moved my hands around _his_ waist. We were just sitting there in a sort of awkward embrace (it was awkward because he was much taller than me). But it felt nice. It felt perfect.

I decided to just raise the stakes as one of my hands moved up to push some of the hair off of his forehead where I planted a kiss.

If he was going to check this off as another random hook up, then I might as well just make the most of it while it lasted. And if he _was_ doing it because he liked me, then it would be a brownie point.

So either way - why not?

My action actually made him nuzzle into me and sigh with contentment.

Sweet.

But the hard part was one of us getting the guts to say something. What would either of us say?

All I wanted to say was, "Axel, I'm in love with you."

But I knew that that was _not_ gonna happen.

It was quiet for who knew how long. But I liked the peaceful silence. I liked running my fingers through his mess of cherry-red hair.

Then, without warning, Axel sat up a little and looked at me. I untangled my hand from his hair. "Okay, um, Roxas…"

Oh great.

"I mean, I know that this may sound weird but, I mean…" He sighed, looking cross with himself. Then he started talking kind of fast and stuttering. "I-I mean do you want to… like, do you want try being a… like…"

I was about to smack him. Whatever he was trying to say - he seemed completely unsure of himself (which was highly unusual) and I was going crazy trying to figure out what he was asking.

"Like… more than… friends? Like um…" He bit his lip.

Axel was asking me to be his boyfriend?!

I tried not to screech out, "YES!" Until he was done his yammering.

Speaking of yammering, he was usually so suave and slick when I had ever seen him ask people out before. Because he was so cocky and he _knew _how hot he was and how no one could ever say no.

I had one of those shots of happy adrenaline.

"Like… a couple? I mean we could try it and if you don't-" The redhead asked me as he looked extremely nervous.

"You're gonna hurt yourself." I interrupted, putting two fingers to his lips.

He grinned at me sheepishly once I pulled my hand away.

Then my reply didn't come immediately his face started to fall.

I wanted to think of something more put together than, "Yes." or "Sure." or "Okay."

And my adrenaline rush was making my poor heart go crazy.

So… to let out some of it for the good of my health - I just tackled him to the ground with a kiss.

Me… Roxas… tackling Axel with a kiss.

HALLELUJAH!

"Is that a yes?" My best friend - wait - boyfriend? asked me with a sweet smile.

"Mmhmm." I managed to mumble.

Giving me a wide grin, Axel pulled me down onto him completely for one more kiss.

And I realized that I wasn't acting anymore - I was completely and truly happy.

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**You guys are all like: WHOA! And I'm all like... PATIENCE BECAUSE THERE IS SO MUCH MORE!**

**:D**

**xox Rose Riku**


	6. Six: Axel

**-shot- This is the second shortest chapter in my story so far. I make you guys wait for EVER and then I give you a short chapter. I'm such a jerk.**

**Oh well. :3**

**DISCLAIMER: I own all the KH and FF characters! ...Just kidding.**

**NOTE: I am aware that Xion is very OOC. Oh well. It happens. Hahaha.**

**...I listened to lots of Goo Goo Dolls while writing this. It actually gave me an idea for a SoRiku story. As odd as that is.**

**PLEASE REVIEW! I DON'T BITE! And thank you to: DarkAngelGrl22567, SarcasticProcrastinator-AMLF, The Foolish Author, , Valinda Blade. If I missed you then please let me know. **

**My reviews are pitiful. I only have 20-something for all five chapters. So for the people who stick with this crappy story - I THANK YOU!**

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**The Promises of Summer**

**Chapter Six**

**Point of View: Axel**

The light coming in from my window made me squint as I looked at my darling Roxas - sprawled out on my bed next to me, sleeping peacefully. All he wore was his new boxers and I had to restrain myself from drooling.

I kept replaying in my head all of the moments from the most intense Saturday night in my life.

It started when Roxas had decided to go in the shower. I was alone with the sound of running water when I decided to be a sneaky little jerk and peek on his laptop to see what he had written.

In fifteen pages, I read a short story about two guys who were best friends. One of the guys completely reminded me of myself - the one who was madly in love with his friend, but was too afraid to tell him. It was a captivating story that almost dragged me into an emotional rapture. The best part was at the end - where the boy that had harbored the passionate crush was kneeling in front of said crush's gravestone and finally telling him how he felt.

It was so heartbreaking.

I had been thinking about what would happen if Roxas ever died on me, and it was truly upsetting. But as I thought about it - I remembered that Roxas was the one who had _written_ the damn thing! Then I began to wonder if it was about _his _feelings for me.

It was a lot to hope for - something that would only be in one of those cute stories people read when they're bored. But I couldn't think of another reason why Roxas would incorporate two teenage male best friends that reminded me so much of us - in a story.

After shutting the laptop so he wouldn't noticed I had peaked - my phone started ringing. The sound of Candle by White Tie Affair filled my ears before I could answer it.

"It's me." The familiar voice of my brother sent a shot of worry through me.

I braced myself for the latest news.

For five minutes or so - Reno told me all about a court date, and staying in jail for a year, and selling shit to a _kid_, for Christ's Sake! I remember getting filled with so much rage that I had yelled "Fuck you! Don't call me anymore! I don't want anything to do with you ever again!" And throwing the phone down on the floor, before beating the living shit out of the wall that was just an innocent witness. The words I had shouted to my brother were words I had truly meant.

Before long after that, I heard a warm voice, and felt soft hands that I swatted away.

It pained me when I looked up to see Roxas so frightened of me. I was immediately remorseful. And then after that, he was nothing but sweet to me. And even through my fit of anger and pain - he made me feel so happy.

I told him what happened and we talked a little - but I had still felt incredibly shaken. I couldn't stop thinking about how the hell I would get money to survive without Reno. It was all he was ever good for and he even ended up failing at _that_.

I blamed my parents' deaths, though. Reno had been so different before the accident. He was one of those kids that you saw and just _knew _that they were going to have one of those wonderful, successful lives that every parents wants for their child.

Reno was no longer a child, though. And his chance for success had passed.

If it wasn't for Roxas, I have no idea what I would have done to myself. But he had a power over me that I knew no one else in the world could ever have. Just one sympathetic look from him and I felt horrible for ever being so upset in his presence.

My right hand had been bleeding pretty profusely - and Roxie took a washcloth and made sure every speck of blood was gone before he laid kisses of tenderness on each and every one of my knuckles. I don't think he was paying much attention when he did it. I'm not even sure if it meant anything to him, but to me - it was just the most adorable thing I had ever seen in my nineteen years of life and I decided that I just couldn't hold back.

Kissing Roxas - like _finally_, giving him _real_ kisses made me feel like a completely different person. For a while as we sat there and made out, I didn't even know who Reno was. And I was unbelievably ecstatic to the fact that my blondie was doing _anything_ but pushing me away.

After we parted and were just sitting quietly, there was a feeling in my gut - a sudden shot of adrenaline - that caused me to nearly scream out about how much I was in love with him.

But then something hit me, I'm not sure what it was - but something told me to take it one step at a time instead of jumping in all at once. Not only did I not want to scare him away - but I just wanted to let my happiness linger longer. I wanted to enjoy things in little bits.

So I decided to just ask him to be my boyfriend. That way, it wouldn't be weird if in the future I told him I loved him - and also because I didn't want Namine the Bitch to steal him away from me at the amusement park, so I was claiming him while I had the chance.

Wow, I'm _so_ obsessive. Oh well. Anyways…

It was the weirdest thing I ever had to do. There had never been a problem asking anyone out in the past - _never_. But with Roxas - it certainly was a problem.

I had no idea _how_ to ask him, or what to expect. I fidgeted and stuttered - which just made me look like an idiot, I'm sure. It didn't help when his face went from curious, to expectant, to just flat out annoyed. At least until, after a bit of teasing on his part, it was finally out there.

It scared me at first when Roxas didn't answer. He looked a little taken aback - his eyes were unreadable. The more time passed, I remember how stupid I felt and how much I just wanted to run away so I could go jump in a hole and die there.

Luckily, though, before I had a chance to run - Roxie had tackled me with a rough kiss. I had that wonderful feeling when something you're hoping for works out - and of course, I loved the relief that the hard part was over.

His lips on mine made me feel insatiable. I just wanted to be alone with Roxas for the rest of my life. The boy made me crazy.

Once our strange passion-out-of-nowhere settled down though, it kind of just seemed like any normal night. We talked about random things as we ate some leftover pizza and we even played a couple rounds of Mario Kart. (I totally owned him at that game.)

The only _real_ difference was that Roxie couldn't look at me without blushing. I suppose it was because of his out-of-character outgoingness that he must have felt ashamed of. He couldn't be cuter.

So overall, I hoped it wouldn't turn into a best-friends-who-make-out kind of thing.

My thoughts were interrupted by the ringing of my cell phone. It was sitting on my cluttered desk in my bedroom. It made… my best fr- no, my _boyfriend_ stir so I got up to answer it quickly.

"Hey. It's Dem." A familiar flamboyant voice rang in my ears.

"Hey there, Sitar-Man. What's up?" I asked casually. I heard Roxas moving around behind me.

"So I've talked to most of the gang. Everyone wants to leave around one. We're gonna meet up at Riku's so we can carpool if we have to. And since only a couple of us know how to actually _get_ to Six Flags - we're all just gonna follow Kairi. She knows how to get there." He informed me.

"Got it. See you soon." I told him.

"Kay bye. Oh! And tell Roxie _hiiiiii_ for me." Demyx practically screeched. I had to pull the phone away from my ear.

"Yeah, sure." I said before slamming my phone shut.

I turned to see Roxas looking a little sleepy still as he sat up straight in my bed and looked at me.

"Hi." I greeted with a smile.

"Hi." He replied back, sounding so fucking cute that I wanted to maul him. (In the good way.)

I placed my phone back down on the desk then made my way to stand in front of the bed. "So everyone wants to meet up at Riku's around one. We're gonna follow Kairi's car up there."

"Okay."

"Which means we only have two hours." I informed him.

"Okay."

The boy had excellent vocabulary when he was tired.

I flashed him a half-smile before going in the other room to take out my laundry and pick out something to wear for the day.

I went with my dark gray skinny jeans and light gray tank with my black leather vest over it. I hadn't worn my leather vest in ages - even though I had worn it practically every day my junior year.

I hoped my _boyfriend_ would like it.

I changed in the bathroom - and by the time I got out, I saw that Roxas had changed too. He was standing in the kitchen with his new dark red skinny jeans with red and black checkered t-shirt. He had his usual Converse - while I slipped on my Vans Slip-Ons.

He was checking his texts, and probably didn't realize that I was eye raping him. Red was certainly his color - he needed to wear it more.

After a few seconds - he looked at me and blinked. His eyelashes were very feminine and it was kind of sexy. "What?" He asked, looking self conscious.

"Nothing." I said in mock innocence, grinning.

He gave me a mock glare.

I smiled and skipped to my coffee maker. "So, Demyx said hi."

"That's nice." Mumbled Roxas, who was still mesmerized by his text messages. He must have had a lot to reply to.

I leaned against my counter. I knew it would be a few minutes before the coffee would be made.

I watched Roxas as he quickly pressed buttons on his phone. He was a fast texter. I loved texting, but not nearly as much as my Roxie did. His tongue darted out to the side as he concentrated on hammering out some sentences quickly.

I chuckled at him. "You're an intense texter."

He looked at me - seeming surprised that I was standing there. "Yeah, I guess."

"Why are you so quiet this morning?" I questioned, making may way over to my _boyfriend_.

No matter how many times I thought about it - Roxas being my _boyfriend_ never got old!

"Tired I guess." He replied lazily.

I draped my arm around his shoulder casually. "Are you sure?" I teased.

As if in a panic, he shut his phone and shoved it in his pocket.

"Positive." He smiled at me.

What the hell was he up to?

I shrugged it off and kissed him on his temple before heading back to my lovely coffee pot.

Not another minute went by before Jesse McCartney sounded loudly from his pocket. I had memories from that night at our spot.

I heard him answer, "Hello?" Before I heard Sora shriek something that I couldn't understand on the other line.

"Ah! Shut up!" Roxas yelled into the phone.

I heard more inaudible mumbling on Sora's end.

"No. Uh…" A pause. "YES! What do you freaking think?!"

I wished I could make out some of Sora's words - but it was impossible. He was talking too fast.

"Calm the hell down." Roxas hissed into the phone.

Then there was Sora mumbling for a good few minutes.

"Ohhh - stop with your _destiny_ and _fate_ crap. You are _such_ a psycho."

What the fuck were they talking about? The conversation was highly amusing from what I could hear.

I noticed my coffee was ready. I grabbed two cups.

I continued listening to Roxas. "Yeah, I know. I still haven't figured that out yet…"

Sora had calmed down - I could hardly hear him.

"You and Riku… _what?!?_" Shrieked my _boyfriend_ suddenly.

"Wow. Okay. Yeah. I'm not going to even let that _enter_ our conversation right now. But I will say this: _no_."

I poured the coffee in the cups.

"Please don't! Just… don't. Don't be stupid. Just _don't_ bring it up. Got it?"

I put two sugars in mine, and three in Roxas's.

"No! I'll tell Riku that you were cuddling his sweatshirt that you stole from him before you guys were dating!"

I heard a panicked whine from Sora's end.

"Good. Then we have a deal. Now can I let you go?" A pause. "Yep, see you soon. Bye."

Roxas slapped his phone shut and rolled his eyes as he put it back in his pocket.

"I'm not even going to ask what all that was about." I said, handing him his coffee.

"Thanks. And please don't." He told me, looking rather embarrassed.

I was curious.

"Although I do want to know…" Teasing, I smirked.

He glared daggers at me.

I held my extra hand up that wasn't holding my coffee in surrender. "Or maybe I don't want to know."

"No, you don't." Smiled my Roxie before he took a sip of his coffee. He made a cute little face of disgust for a split second.

Roxas did _not_ really like coffee at all - but he always drank it because it helped keep him awake. And trust me, it took miracles to keep Roxas awake.

"What do you wanna do until we leave?" I asked him.

"I dunno…" Said Roxas before he snapped. "Oh! I have to call work and see if we can get tomorrow off!" He pretty much shouted as he set down his coffee on the table and whipped out his phone again.

Six Flags was about four hours away from where we lived. If we left at one we would get there around five and then stay there till around midnight which meant not getting home until like four in the morning - which meant we would be exhausted at our twelve-thirty shift at GameStop.

I drank my coffee while I heard Blondie _blahblahblah _into the phone for a few minutes before he slapped it shut and said, "All covered."

"Sweet." I replied as I sipped some more of my coffee.

I watched Roxie as he sat down at his laptop and opened it up. His eyes swirled across the screen and I immediately remembered the story he had written.

Roxas really _was_ a good writer. I remember being so captivated by his words that I forgotten it was just a fictional story I was reading - and that it was written by _him_. I knew that even though he lost all of his stories, he could just start over and be perfectly fine. He could definitely make it into college with the grades he had, plus he had an account with a good amount of college savings as well. I didn't know why after the fire he had acted like his future was completely _gone_. It would just be a little more… _difficult_ to get there than before.

As he started clacking away on his keys - I decided that my hair needed some serious re-gelling, so I went right to it.

~_~_~_~

My _boyfriend_ and I were just about to head out the door when my phone went off. The screen said 'Sitar-Man'.

"Yeah?" I answered.

Roxas leaned against the wall and watched me.

"Um… Axel?" Demyx's voice sounded a little nervous.

"What?" I asked, not liking how this was going already.

"Um. It's no big deal… but…"

"But _what_ Mullet-Brain?! Spit it out!" I boomed.

"Well… for one… my little brother is coming with us. My stupid mother is _forcing_ me to take him because she doesn't want him." Demyx told me.

"Hayner? He's home?" I asked. I hated Hayner. I hated him _a lot_.

I watched Roxie's head pop up. I'm sure Roxas wasn't too fond of the news either. Hayner _was_ one of his horrible ex's after all.

"But there's more." Said my friend. "Zexion has to bring his little sister, too."

"So?" I questioned.

"…Zexion's little sister is Xion. Their family's up for the Summer again. And trust me - I had _no_ idea that he was related to that little bitch." Demyx informed me.

I was _pissed_. I hated Xion more than I hated Hayner. And both of them together? It was going to be hell for Roxas!

"Dump Zexion! Make him go away _now_." I ordered.

"No! Unlike Xion… Zexy's not an ass. I think I love him." Mullet-Brain gushed.

"Ohhh you've gotta be kidding me." I moaned into the phone. "Well I hope you don't care if I kick his sister's ass if she starts any shit. Or even looks at me. Or Roxas."

Roxas cocked his head at me.

"This is why I decided to warn you ahead of time." Demyx sighed into the phone.

"Whatever. I'll see you soon." I spoke before hanging up.

"What-?" Blondie began to ask me.

I sighed as I put the phone in my pocket. "Hayner and Xion are both going to be there…"

"Xion?!" Gasped Roxas. "_Why_?"

I inhaled sharply. "Because she is dear _Zexy's_ sister."

"_What_?" My poor boyfriend looked like his day was already ruined.

"We don't have to go, Love." I reminded him as I bit into my non-existent nail.

"No. I want to go. I haven't been to Six Flags in forever. I want to hang out with my friends and have fun. I don't care if she's there. I'll just ignore her." He told me with confidence.

"Okay then." I smiled as I opened the door so we could finally leave. "But I won't hesitate to punch her teeth in if needed."

Roxas chuckled as we both left to go down the stairs. "I'll hold you to that."

And eventually we made it inside Kenny - Roxas in the driver's seat, and me in the passenger's.

"So we're going to Riku's to meet up, right?" Asked Roxie.

"Yeah."

And off we went. But I could see on his face that he was thinking about Xion. It kind of pissed me off. I wanted to shout, "Hello! Roxas! You have a wonderful and hot boyfriend who loves you _sitting right here_ and he would never, _ever_ do anything to hurt you! And he doesn't have a secret boyfriend several states away!"

But I didn't.

As he drove in silence, his face went from contemplative to pained. I reached out and put my hand behind his neck, gently messaging it. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah." He said distantly.

"You promised you would be happy today. Remember?" I reminded him.

"I am." He not-so-convincingly replied.

I decided not to say anything so I just leaned back in my seat and kept my fingers trailing on the back of his neck.

On the way to Riku's, we ended up having to pass Roxas's old house. It still wasn't cleaned up perfectly, but it was different than before.

Roxas slowed in front of it and stared at it for a minute. The candy bars still sat there on the porch. I'm sure the people that had to clean up the mess understood they were there for a reason.

Neither of us said anything. We just looked at the pile of ash and burned wood before he began to drive away again.

I snaked my hand from his neck to tangle in his mess of blonde hair after he let out a long sigh.

At that moment it had hit me again that Roxas was my boyfriend. I had a butterfly feeling in my stomach at the thought of everyone finding out. I wanted to tell Demyx on the phone earlier in the morning when he first called but I decided I would probably be very embarrassed if Roxas heard me gushing about him like a girl.

"Good thing it's actually _sunny_ today." Spoke up Roxie - breaking me out of my thoughts.

"Yep." I agreed at the random comment. "So you're totally going on all the psychotic, brain-melting rides right?" I asked him.

"Hell yeah." He turned to flash me a quick smile before looking back at the road.

"Good." I grinned back even though I knew he couldn't see it.

A couple minutes after that conversation - we ended up pulling into Riku's driveway. Everyone else was already there. Even Xion - who leaned against the wall of Riku's house looking like she _did not _want to be there. She had been pretending to pay attention to something Zexion was saying to her but when we pulled in - her attention turned to us.

As Roxas went to go unbuckle his seat belt - I saw him stiffen noticeably. Her cold eyes were fixed on his through the windshield. And his were fixed on hers. If Roxie was a cat - his fur would be standing straight up and he would probably be doing that creepy low-growl thing that they do that makes them sound possessed.

"Just ignore her." I told him quietly after unbuckling my own seatbelt.

He didn't reply to me. He just opened his door and got out.

I heard myself make a frustrated sigh before also escaping from Kenny.

Before I could even get the door completely shut - Demyx came running up to me like a mad man. Well… he _is_ a mad man.

"OhMyGod. OhMyGod!" He screeched at me - pretty much _giggling_.

"Um… what?" I asked him, although my attention was half-turned to Roxas who was in the middle of getting suffocated by Sora, Riku, and Kairi. They were surrounding him and talking to him a lot and his face looked really red.

"Sora told meeee!" Demyx gushed.

"Told you whaaaat?" I mocked him.

"About you and Roxas!" He said loudly like I was an idiot.

At first I had no idea what he was talking about. And then I was like… _wait_. Apparently Roxas must have told Sora over text about me and him dating! Which was why Sora called Roxas and was freaking out!!

I had to cover my hand to keep myself from laughing when I pushed out an, "Oh. That." As I sneaked another glance at my Roxie who looked like he was about to run away from his little group of fans that were probably talking to him about me.

The only thing separating us was the car. Yet he felt so far away.

"Oh _THAT_?! What's the matter with you? It took you guys _four years _to get together and now you're brushing it's off like it's nothing!" Mullet-Brain paused. "Have you kissed yet?" He grinned at me hopefully.

"…Yeah." I admitted sheepishly.

"WOOHOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!" Demyx belted out… so loudly that it jumped me.

And everyone in Riku's yard looked at him.

And also some old lady across the street.

And a guy walking a dog.

And - oh, how surprising - Mr. Vexen happened to be driving by at that time too. So he threw his stupid stink eye at our direction before he was gone.

It was quiet for a good couple of seconds before Zexion of all people broke the silence. "Why do you have to be so loud, Demyx?" He asked quietly.

"You of all people should know how loud I can get!" Demyx retorted.

Good God.

Xion and Hayner made a fake barfing noise simultaneously.

I realized in that moment that _they_ would be good together.

So Sitar-Man skipped over to his boy-toy while I walked around the car to join my boyfriend.

"So when are we leaving?" I asked the group.

"Well… Namine is doing her make-up inside. God knows how long that will take." Kairi said.

"Where are Leon and Cloud?" Riku spoke up.

"You're right." Sora replied, looking around. "They were here a minute ago…"

"Oh wait. I found them." Said Riku sounding disturbed as he gestured his head to their car.

They were making out in the backseat. How _lovely_.

"Someone should go spray them with water." I commented.

Suddenly Namine appeared out of Riku's house looking like a tart. A crying tart. Her mascara was all runny.

"What's wrong with Namine?" Asked Roxas with concern.

Sora looked at him and blinked like he was stupid.

Roxas rolled his eyes after his faced turned to realization. "Wonderful."

I didn't catch on to what they were talking about, until she walked up to us - and then I understood.

"I'm so happy for you guys." She said with a dead tone looking from me to Roxas.

My poor Roxie had all of his exes in one space. With his new boyfriend. I knew immediately it would be awkward for a while.

Blondie rubbed his hand on the back of his hand looking like he wanted to run very far away. "Eheh. Yeah." He said to Namine before flashing a look at Kairi. "Can we go now?"

Kairi nodded, smirking. "Come on Nam-Nam. Let's go!"

Namine dragged along behind her red-haired friend. Sora and Riku went to go jump in their car while Roxas and I headed back to Kenny.

On the way to their car, we saw Riku bang on Cloud's car window - signaling them to get in the front seat and stop acting like animals. It was highly amusing.

Demyx, Zexion, and Hayner started heading to the Demyx Mobile - but Xion started walking over to us. Crap.

I wanted to just jump in the car and ignore her, but Roxas looked like he was a deer in the headlights as she approached us.

"Hey, Roxie. Long time no see." She grinned and batted her eyelashes.

In that single moment she had already had two strikes. The first one was for calling him Roxie - it was _my _name for him. And the second was for flirting.

She looked at me then as if she just noticed I was alive. "So… I'm proud of you Axel. You finally confessed your long, obsessive love for Roxie here. Ha! Took you long enough. God, the way you used to look at him…"

I rolled my eyes and decided to just get in the car. If I didn't - I really _would_ punch her.

Lucky for me - Roxas's window was cracked, so I could still hear their conversation.

"So… I just wanted to say I'm sorry. The last time we talked wasn't exactly great. And I never meant for any of that to happen…" She basically cooed.

After some contemplating, I decided to lean over and beep the horn.

It was pretty hysterical because I could see Xion jump as I looked through the windshield. "Looks like someone's jealous." She said with a huff. "Talk to you later." And then the black-haired girl walked back to get in her brother's boyfriend's car.

Hesitantly Roxas got in the vehicle. He looked terribly distraught.

"Don't let her get to you." I told him.

"I'm not." He hissed at me. Ouch, the cat had claws.

I gave him a look.

"What?" Another hiss.

"Calm down, Kitty. I haven't even done anything." I smirked. Kitty would prove to be a good nickname for him in the future.

Roxie rolled his eyes and ignored me as he pulled out of the driveway. He had to let everyone else out so Kairi could get to the front. We were all suppose to follow her.

I continued staring at Roxas in his adorable outfit as everyone pulled in front of us.

"Sorry." He said suddenly.

"For what?" I asked. I was too distracted by his adorableness.

"For snapping. She just pisses me off. And it doesn't help that Hayner was glaring at me. And then Namine's…" He trailed off.

I hadn't even paid much attention to Hayner.

"You should feel special that so many people want to get into your pants." I paused. "Or get into them _again…"_

Blondie smiled and shook his head at me.

"But they can't because you're officially taken by a super-hot guy." I teased before leaning towards him in my seat. I was glad I had forgotten to put on my seatbelt.

He turned his head to me - the smile was still there.

I pecked him on the lips before sitting back in a normal position. From the corner of my eye I could see his bright-red cheeks. Hopefully he wouldn't be thinking about Xion for the rest of the ride.

As we drove off - I started daydreaming about all the things that could happen at the amusement park.

* * *

**I love Axel. :)**

**Anyways, something I like in reviews is hearing about a certain line you guys liked. Let's make it a game! ...Maybe this will get me more reviewers. Or maybe not. **

**Sorry for the SHORTNESS. I will make it up next chapter. YAY!**

**xox Rose Riku**


	7. Seven: Roxas

**Ello! This chapter is kind of a filler. But there's some big-part-of-story dialogue in here. And yes - I KNOW that Xion is VERY OOC and I did it intentionally. She really doesn't acting bitchy or whory. **

**I didn't bother editing this because I'm lazy so shoot me if there is mistakes. Hehehe.**

**A little cute fluff in here. Not much else. :P**

**DISCLAIMER: If I did own KH it would no longer be an E rated game...**

**Thanks to my lovely reviewers: , Naive-Symphony, Foxyaoi123, XXXSilverMoonXXX, The Foolish Author, Valinda Blade, DarkAngelGrl22567 (my sex slave), XloneXwriter, SarahXxUnlovedXx, Blood as Soft As Silk, Sarcastic-Procrastinator-AMLF.**

**Phew. Did I miss anyone? I got more reviewers than ever before. Is there any more out there?!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**The Promises of Summer**

**Chapter Seven**

**Point of View: Roxas**

There was a sign on the side of the highway that read "Six Flags - 8 Miles" we were almost there. I leaned back in my seat and let out a sigh, happy for the fact that I wouldn't have to drive anymore. My hands felt cramped and my back was aching a bit.

I looked to my right to see Axel looking completely lost in thought as he stared out the passenger window.

"Whatcha thinking about?" I asked him with curiosity.

"Pushing Xion off a roller coaster." He told me so simply that I knew he wasn't joking.

I laughed nervously.

"Did I say something funny?" Axel blinked at me.

I shook my head as I smirked.

The thought of Axel pushing Xion off a roller coaster amused me as well. The image in my head was pretty hysterical actually.

Xion had really pissed me off with the way she batted her eyelids and cooed an apology to me. I wondered if she _really _thought that she was that irresistible. Please, Axel could just sit in a chair staring at a blank wall and be a zillion times more irresistible than her. At least to me anyway.

I wondered if Xion really meant it when she was implying that Axel had always liked me. It was a pretty hard thing for me to believe. He had been with _so_ many people during our friendship.

Putting Xion aside though, I was a little frustrated with the fact that Namine had been _crying_ over me and Axe. I'm glad that she was the nicest about it, but I never understood why she thought I was her soul mate. We'd _barely_ dated. The only time we even kissed was when she was mad drunk!

At least she wasn't as emotional as the time I was with Xion. God, I never wanted to replay that Summer of mine _ever_, _ever_ again.

And then _Hayner _was there. He wouldn't even give me a glance my way though, and that I was grateful for.

A thought occurred to me that if Hayner wasn't gay - he would make a great couple with Xion. Maybe if she got a sex change…

"Ooh! Roxie! Look!" Screeched my boyfriend.

Axel had been so quiet that I had forgotten he was there. But his voice uplifted me and reminded me that I was in a car going to an amusement park with an amazingly sexy boyfriend.

"What?" I asked, turning my head slightly towards him.

"That looks _sick!_" The red head was practically jumping up and down in his seat, the belt was restraining him.

I saw that he was talking about a roller coaster that dropped and _twisted_ _three time in a row_ before going up and dropping again.

I swallowed.

I began to see more rides poking out as we grew closer to the parking lot.

"Don't tell me you're chicken shit." A laugh erupted from him. "You're going on _everything_ with me."

I didn't reply to him. The falling-and-spinning-to-my-death-rides did not sound all that fun, but for him I'd do it. Besides, I was in serious need of some fun.

"Right?" He pleaded for a definite response.

"I suppose." I meekly smiled. My thoughts had started trailing from exes to parents suddenly. I knew that they would want me having fun, I had to keep repeating it to myself.

"Yay!" He bounced in his seat some more.

"Never drink coffee in the morning ever again." I ordered with a grin. I really _was_ trying.

"Awww. You know you like me when I'm a little rambunctious." He purred as he leaned closer to me.

His face being inches from mine immediately wiped my thoughts like a delete button on a computer. I tried not to steer off the road.

"You're blushing again." He said slyly to me. "How cute."

"Why do you _do _that?" I whined, pushing him away with my right hand.

"Do what?" My boyfriend asked with mock innocence.

"Try to annoy me." I retorted.

"Are you saying I'm annoying?" Axel pretended to sob.

"Yes." I answered, ignoring his theatrics.

"Roxie…" He blubbered. "That _hurts_." He pretended to sob again.

I gave him a look. "See what I mean? You annoy me."

We started to pull into the parking lot. My car was directly behind Cloud's. When I finally stopped the car I looked over at Axel for a brief second to see that he was still pouting at me for calling him annoying.

"Oh suck it up." I teased.

"Do you really think I'm annoying, Kitty?" He asked me, a puppy dog look on his face.

I had to say, from the second he started calling me Kitty I found it rather… hot.

I softly chuckled at him. I knew he would never learn. "Yes."

Axel unbuckled his seat belt then looked at me with a mischievous grin.

"What?" I asked, warily as I unbuckled my own seatbelt.

The red head propped himself up in his seat and then moved so his face was inches from mine.

I tried not to attack his lips with mine.

I felt his breath on me. His facial features were soft and his eyes looked into mine sensually and I swallowed, not knowing what else to do.

A few moments of this passed before Axel broke out into a goofy grin, wiping away the atmosphere that he had just created. "Am I annoying _now_?!"

I groaned, rolling my eyes, and smacked him on the head.

He stuck his tongue out at me after rubbing his head where I had hit him.

"Way to be mature." I joked.

Axel decided to start tickling me then.

"No!" I cried out with a little laugh.

He continued the tickle torture as I squirmed and ended up completely pushed up against my car door - the handle pressing into my back.

"Please?" I begged after a few more moments. "Please stop, Axe." I tried to contain my laughter.

"Okay." He sighed, moving his hands so they rested on my lower back. He pulled me towards him so he could kiss me deeply and I tried not to die. It was quite a task.

There was a loud bang on my window, startling the daylights out of both of us.

"Stop acting like Leon and Cloud!" My brother screamed at us. His voice was muffled since all my windows were shut, but I could still hear him perfectly.

We both laughed before finally climbing out of Kenny so we could join our group. I saw Demyx give Axel a major smirk, signaling that he had seen us. When I gave Axel a glance to see his expression - I saw that his face was a scarlet red and he had the traces of an embarrassed smile on his lips.

He ended up catching me looking at him so he muttered, "What?" Innocently.

"Now who's blushing?" I teased.

His smile got bigger and I saw him trying to hide it by biting his lip. But he said nothing.

"What's wrong?" I half-smiled. "_Kitty _got your tongue?"

Axel briefly laughed. "Was that a request?"

"Whoa. 'Kay. Sorry to interrupt the passionate conversation but we have a theme park to get to!" Piped up Kairi.

I realized everyone had just been intently following our conversation. I really needed to get my head out of the clouds when I was around Axel.

"Unless you guys just want to sit here and make out. That's okay with me. I have my camera!" Grinned Demyx.

I rolled my eyes while Axel smacked him upside the head. Sitar-Man gave Zexion a look for help when Axel had violated his precious mullet. Too bad for Dem, because his valiant knight, Sir Zexy, just looked really bored, or maybe tired. I wasn't sure because he never changed the expression on his overly emo face.

"Stop talking guys. Let's move! I'm so excited for the Super Man!" Gushed Sora, talking about one of Six Flag's coasters.

"Oh! _I'm_ excited for the Tower of Doom!" Axel jumped up and down with a huge smile, completely forgetting about abusing Demyx.

"Come on, Roxie! Let's _go_!" My boyfriend shrieked as he grabbed my wrist to drag me to the entrance where we could buy our tickets.

Everyone followed after us eagerly, except Xion and Hayner who dragged their feet like they didn't want to be there. They were such party poopers in my opinion.

The red head really looked like he was going to jump out of his skin by the time he paid for his ticket. He kept rambling about which ride he wanted to go on first as he waited for me to buy my own ticket. Once it was bought I marched up to him and held my hands on his shoulders. "Calm _down_." I ordered.

He frowned at me. "But…"

I stood on my tiptoes and kissed him.

"Calming down now…" He said sounding kind of drugged.

It actually worked. He had ceased his jumping and talking a thousand words a minute.

"You're both very entertaining." Leon informed us, coming up behind me.

"Very." Cloud agreed.

"I still can't believe you guys finally got together. It took you long enough…" A very slight smile formed on Leon's face as he talked.

I felt my face get red. I was still mentally cursing myself for telling Sora. I should have known what it would lead to. I just couldn't help myself once I had my cell phone with the ability to text in my hand. I had been so excited about Axel asking me to be his boyfriend - I wanted to share it with my brother.

Thank God that Axel didn't seem that surprised of everyone knowing. That would have been mortifying.

Neither Axel nor I knew what to say to Leon's statement. So we just simply didn't say anything.

The rest of the gang soon joined up with us and we all discussed who was going where and where our meeting spot would be.

Sora, Riku, Demyx, Zexion, Hayner (ew), and Xion (double ew) were going to the Tower with us.

"Hayner, just because you came with me doesn't mean you need to follow me." Demyx hissed as his brother as we all walked.

"Well I am." Hayner bit back with an attitude.

"God." Dem moaned.

"Why don't you take Hayner and you guys can go do your own thing?" Zexion pleaded to his sister.

"What? So you guys can have a gay orgy? I think not." Retorted Xion.

I hated her.

The second she said it, she gave me a funny look. And the second she gave me a funny look was the second that Axel put his arm around me and pulled me close to him possessively. I had an urge to giggle.

"Quit being bitter just because you're single." Commanded Zexion.

It was the most I had heard him talk since I had met him.

"Oh bite me."

"I wouldn't risk it because I might draw blood, and I really don't want HIV." Zexy spat back.

After that comeback, I decided he was o-kay with me. Demyx had my approval of him.

I heard Axel chuckle darkly beside me.

Xion just grunted.

"Awesome! The line is short!" Sora pretty much screamed as he ran towards the line which consisted of maybe four people.

Riku ran after Sora while the rest of us just walked to catch up with them.

Eventually we were all standing in line and watching a large group of people at the top of the Tower about to be dropped a hundred and forty feet.

I braced myself for the screams.

I felt a pair of thin arms wrap around my waist casually. I tried to make myself look like I didn't really notice.

"You guys are pretty clingy for _just_ getting together." My brother's boyfriend commented.

I felt Axel stiffen and start to pull away.

"Heh. I dunno w-" My boyfriend started to speak, sounding a little like a kid getting caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Although… maybe that's not the best metaphor to use.

He got cut off by a lot of screaming people.

And then Xion spoke. "Nah. Not that surprising. I mean… Axel has even slept with people before he knew their name."

Axel completely let go of me and moved from behind me. "That was once and-"

"Wait. Did you… you know… with Roxie?" Asked Demyx.

"No." Replied the red head pointedly, I could tell he was starting to get a little pissed.

"Well that's shocking. Where's the whorish Axel I remember who wouldn't date someone until they fucked him?" Xion mocked shock.

"Why the hell are you pulling all of this stuff out of your ass?" His temper was showing. I wanted to calm him down but I decided to just shut up and stay quiet.

"Ouch. He bites. But his profession is sucking." Retorted the bitch coolly.

Hayner snickered at this.

"Okay guys. Knock it off. We're getting on in a minute anyway." Ordered Riku. Sora looked a little nervous beside him.

"Just stating…" Xion started up again. "That it's not surprising how clingy he is. Maybe he's working backwards now. He's _always_ wanted to get in "_Roxie's_" pants. So now maybe he thinks if he's lovey-dovey enough he can get into them whenever he wa-"

Axel sure as hell would never do that to me. I knew that. I think.

"I'm _not _afraid to punch you." Threatened Axel as he got an inch from her.

Everyone was sort of beginning to panic. Strangers even stared.

"Why? Did I foil your plan?" Grinned the black haired stupid ho.

"Xion. Shut up now." Zexion said tiredly from where he stood. "You're not funny. And if you get punched I get in trouble."

"Think about it Roxas." She turned her head to me. "Run while you can. Once a whore, always a whore."

Axel looked seriously taken aback for a moment. His face pulling from rage into a feature of sadness and fear. It pained me.

But the rage came back. "Well there sure as hell is no hope for you then." Hissed my boyfriend at my ex.

"Oh no. I'm not a whore. Nothing close to like you. Just because of that one little thing that happened with Roxas does not make me a whore. Especially because I don't even _count_ Roxas as an ex. He sucked in bed and he sucked at holding conversations and he sucked at kissing and he just sucked at being a boyfriend in general."

I wanted to run into her and pound her face into the ground until I couldn't see it anymore.

"Get over yourself." I heard the red head mutter to Xion before the guy started letting people onto the ride.

Our entire group had become tense except for Hayner who had looked amused the whole time.

I looked at Axel as we started moving into the area for seating. His face showed that he had gone from completely happy to completely upset.

He plunked himself down into one of the ride's seats and began to strap himself in. I sat next to him and did the same thing while Sora sat next to me and Riku sat next to him.

The red head beside me didn't look excited at all. Usually he was the one who was grinning and could barely wait for the ride to start.

"Axel…" I started, looking at him. It was a little weird in the seat restraints.

"Hmm?" He asked, trying to look perfectly not-angry.

"Weren't you the one who told me not to let anything Xion said get to me? Well the same should go for you too." I let out a tiny smile.

"Yeah. I know. I'm not." He lied.

I glared at him.

"Well what do you expect? She's being a major bitch for no reason!" Axel's eyes narrowed as he hissed. Then they widened a little as his face turned to a worried expression. "Do you think I'm really that big of a manwhore?"

I kind of wanted to laugh at his question. "No." I answered with an amused tone.

"Liar." He grunted.

"No, really. You're not a manwhore Axel. You're just very friendly." I couldn't help it. I laughed.

He grumbled something.

"I'm just kidding." I said, straightening my face. "She was just being a bitch. Besides, no one could be a bigger whore than her."

"You got that right." Sighed my boyfriend. "So you didn't believe her when she said-"

We were beginning to get lifted into the air very very slowly.

"Oh my God!" Shrieked Sora beside me.

"Calm down." Spoke Riku softly to his boyfriend.

"Said what?" I asked Axel, ignoring the fact that we were going to be a hundred and forty feet high.

"Said you know that I was just trying to… with you… and ugh, I mean I would never, _ever_ do that and I just-" Rambled my boyfriend.

We were really high. It was unsettling.

"Axel… I _know_." I told him, a little annoyed. We were very, very, very high up and the thing would drop at any time. The assholes running the thing kept us in suspense.

"Okay. Good. Because I didn't want you to think…" He stopped mid-sentence. "By the way, am… am I really too clingy? Because I can stop being clingy. I just-"

"Axel! You're fine! Can we talk about this later because we are about to _drop almost two hundred feet_?" I practically yelled, getting more nervous about when they would drop us.

"I'm fine? Okay. Good. I just wanted to make sure that you weren't mad at me, because I know that we _just_ got together but I can't _help_ being clingy because…"

"Because?" I asked him, intrigued. My voice was teasing now. I wanted him to loosen up because it was his favorite ride and yet he was talking a mile a minute about our… _relationship_ of all things.

He did anything but loosen up. "Um, because I've wanted to… date you for a really long time. I just never said anything." My boyfriend blushed.

This sentence definitely put me into an upbeat mood. But I had to ask, "How long is 'a really long time'?" I teased some more. I batted my eyelashes like a girl.

His face went as red as his hair. "Uh…"

"I don't want to be up here anymore!" Shouted my brother.

"Well we won't be in a minute!" I yelled back at him before turning back to Axel who looked beyond embarrassed.

"Uh… about four years." He mumbled.

Four years? I didn't know if I heard him right at first. We had been friends for four years! We had met four years before! I didn't believe he was saying he had always liked me as more than a friend since he met me!

I think I gave him a shocked look because his face went even more nervous.

But I didn't have a chance to speak.

We were dropping.

"Ah!!" I let out before the speed we were falling stopped my scream abruptly.

At the same time we dropped, Sora screamed like a girl while Axel and Riku stayed completely silent.

We reached the ground and I felt dazed from both the fall and what Axel said. When I turned to look at him he was staring straight ahead and he looked like a kicked puppy.

I didn't understand why Axel thought it was such a bad thing. I was ecstatic about it… if not a little stupid. Apparently I hadn't picked up on any signs at _all_. And I had only liked him for a few _weeks_. It almost made me feel like an asshole.

And if I was so in love with him after a few weeks, then I wondered if he was in love with me, too. It was a long shot - but there I was, dating him and he had just told me he'd wanted to date me for years. It seemed like anything could happen at that point.

I began to get myself out of the mess of restraints. Axel did as well, but slowly. Sora and Riku were ripping them off like animals - ready to go on the next ride I assumed.

I stood up and waited for Axe to stand up so we could head out the exit to let the new people on. I still didn't know what to say. I didn't want to say "Oh, I liked you for that long, too." Because it would have sounded lame and also - I didn't even realize I liked him a full month before!

He looked anywhere but me as we started to walk towards the exit gate. Sora and Riku skipped along in front of us. I saw Demyx, Zexion, the bitch, and the bastard walk out before us too.

I grabbed my boyfriend's hand and flashed him my sweetest smile. I felt him relax. "Let's go." I suggested cheerfully.

He gave me a half-smile. The red on his face began to die down. I entwined our fingers and dragged him along behind me.

"So where are we headed now?" I asked the group. Axel and I continued holding hands.

I saw Xion glance at our intertwined fingers quickly before rolling her eyes.

"Well _I_ think Demyx, Zexion, and their twerps should go hang out with Cloud, Leon, Kairi, and Namine. We don't need the unnecessary drama. We're here to have fun." Stated Riku.

I almost hugged him.

"Aww. But I wanna be with _you_ guys." Moaned Demyx.

I gave him puppy dog eyes.

Sitar-Man nodded. "But I guess you're right. This is for you two to get your mind off of things. Not add more shit."

"Get their minds off what?" Asked Xion.

"Their parents died." Zexy told her simply.

She gave me the funniest look then. Almost sympathetic. "Oh…" She said breathlessly.

"Y-yeah. I wanna go hang with Kairi anyway." Decided Xion as she began to walk off briskly.

I blinked a few times.

"Well that was easy." Sora grinned.

"Yeah. So… coaster time?" Riku asked with a smile.

Axel nodded excitedly.

"Hell yeah." I smiled big.

And we all ran off to get on some crazy rides.

* * *

**Lame. More excitement next chapter!**

**xox Rose Riku**


	8. Eight: Axel

**My chappies have just been getting shorter and shorter. But I think I'm doing well if I'm still writing them. I actually like this one because I've had it written out forEVER. And it's fluffy and it has one of my favorite songs in it and yeah. I also thing this is, so far, the lightest chapter I've written. No drama for once. Just fluff and smiles mostly. Yay. **

**DISCLAIMER: Kingdom Hearts is just too hot for me to handle.**

**Please review. It keeps me going. It really does. The more people that review, the more I want to impress you guys and make the story better. **

**Kudos to: Foxyaoi123, The Foolish Author, Naive-Symphony, red doggie, Sasunarufangirl111, DarkAngelGrl22567, Valinda Blade, AxelAnimeYaoi96, SarahXxUnlovedXx, Sammy-Dee ((IF I MISSED ANYONE, PLEASE LET ME KNOW!))**

* * *

**The Promises of Summer**

**Chapter Eight**

**Point of View: Axel**

"Bumper cars! Bumper cars! I wanna go on the bumper cars!" Chanted my boyfriend's brother as he danced around Riku.

The four of us had quite literally _just_ gotten off one of the craziest coasters in the park. I felt totally pumped from it, unlike Roxas.

My little blonde was a couple feet behind me, Sora, and Riku. His hair was a wild mess, his face pale, his eyes big, and a tiny frown was etched on his features.

I couldn't help but chuckle at him. "Too intense for you, Roxie?"

I saw that he was about to answer, but his face turned a horrible shade of green and he dashed to a trashcan.

Sora burst out laughing until I gave him a glare that turned his laughing to a nervous chuckle.

I watched Roxas as he wiped his hand against his mouth, looking utterly disgusted. I walked over to him.

"You okay?" I asked him as I tipped his head up to make him look at me.

"Mm…hmm." He groaned uncertainly.

I rubbed his back and guided him to Sora and Riku.

"I think Roxie needs to sit for a bit. We'll be right by the picnic table. You two can go to the bumper cars and meet us there after, okay?" I suggested to my friends.

"Fine with me!" Answered Sora, not seeming to care his brother was sick.

Riku smirked at his boyfriend before slinging an arm around said brunette's shoulders lovingly. I smiled at them as they turned to be on their way.

"I can sit by myself, you know. You don't need to miss out on the bumper cars." The blonde mumbled quietly. I could tell he really didn't feel good.

"Nah. We've gone on all the coolest stuff so far anyway. Besides, it would be no fun without you." I grinned.

He gave me a half-smile back before clutching onto my arm as we made our way to the picnic tables.

Roxas practically collapsed on the bench seat. He closed his eyes and leaned over to put his head in his hands.

I moved my hand in circles on his lower back. There was a lot of people around us who were talking, shouting, throwing food, and laughing… but all I could focus on was Roxie. I wanted him to feel better.

He sat up and I moved my hand from his back, to the nape of his neck where I massaged gently.

"I'm sorry I've turned this into a drag so far." He sighed.

"What do you mean? This isn't a drag. We've gone on _tons_ of cool rides. So what if you got motion sickness? Everyone does sometimes." I gave him an affectionate smile.

"Yeah I guess." Another sigh escaped him.

He leaned over to rest his head on my shoulder. I slid my hand from the back of his neck, to wrap around his waist. I felt so comfortable with him resting on me. I could smell my shampoo that he had used radiating from his hair.

"Hey…" I started. "Once Sora and Riku come back, do you want to go on the ferris wheel? We haven't done that yet. Plus it will be easy on your stomach." I suggested as I talked into his messy blonde head of hair.

"Sure." He agreed, sounding indifferent.

After a few moments, a familiar Mullet-Head came dashing up to us. "Heeeeeey guys!" He screeched. Zexion followed behind him, as well as Xion, Hayner, Namine, Kairi, Cloud, and Leon.

"Why are you guys just sitting here? The fun is out _there_!" Giggled Kairi.

"Roxie didn't feel too good." I explained to Kairi.

"Where's Sora and Riku?" She asked as she peeked at a couple of the food booths.

"Bumper cars. They're coming back over here once they're done."

Roxas lifted his head off my shoulder so he could sit up straight, but I continued to keep my arm around his waist. I was still paranoid of being too clingy, but I also kind of didn't care.

"Yeah! We should go there next!" Piped up the blonde, wannabe version of Kairi. She was looking a lot happier than when I had seen her last. "By the way… Roxas…"

Namine stepped closer to Roxas before leaning so she was right in front of his face. It made me feel a little awkward.

"Sorry I was being kind of stupid this morning. I really _am_ glad you and Axel are together. It's just… well… you know how I am. I'm a bit overdramatic…" She shrugged.

"You don't say." Said Roxas sarcastically. I smirked.

"Ha. Ha." The blonde girl mock-laughed. "Anyway, you're lucky to have him." She said before ruffling my hair.

Yeah, she ruffled my hair. I had to restrain myself from smacking her hand away. She must not have known how long it takes for me to style my sexy hair.

"Axel's been, like, in love with you for _ever_. I know how many times you've told people I was obsessed with you, but apparently you haven't been paying much attention to _this_ one." She gestured her head towards me.

I huffed, feeling my face get hot. Did she _not _notice I could hear her every word?

"Oh, please. It's obvious." Namine grinned at me.

I rolled my eyes and brought my arm away from Roxie's waist so I could fold my arms. So maybe it _was _obvious. I wore my heart on my sleeve, apparently.

"Sorry. We gave her cotton candy _and_ an energy drink." Apologized Kairi before pulling her away. "We are gonna go on the bumper cars now. Bye guys!"

"See you guys later!" Sang Demyx as he jumped on Zexion piggy-back style.

"Bye." Roxas and I both said simultaneously as we watched Cloud and Leon try to make Zexion lose his balance so that he would drop Demyx. Demyx was screaming like a girl.

I also saw Xion and Roxas lock eyes if only for a moment, before they were all gone and we were left sitting on a bench together surrounded by strangers once again.

I still felt a stinging heat on my cheeks as I was still trying to recover from my newest humiliation.

Roxas's face was a little red too - the slightest blush. But there was also a tiny little smile there that just made me feel so much better. Maybe he _liked_ hearing about how I had apparently always been in love with him.

Well… I had… but… still.

"Hey, Axe…" I could hear the question in his voice about to burst. When he looked up at me our eyes connected and I saw his blush deepen.

"Um… were you serious when you said…" He turned his face away. "That… you've wanted to be more than friends for… four years?" His voice quieted at the last to words, maybe as if he wasn't sure he had heard them right.

I felt a little rush of adrenaline. I was kind of scared to answer him. But I decided I should get it over with.

I took his chin in my fingertips and turn his face towards mine. He let out a little breath and blinked. I felt him gulp. For some reason, the suspense of my answer made him nervous.

I opened my mouth to talk before Sora came bounding in front of us.

"So much fun!" Shouted the brunette. "You guys should go on it with us later. Since you missed out!" He was grinning so much, I thought his cheeks must have felt so sore.

"Yeah, you missed out on Sora getting his ass whooped by a bunch of little girls! Every time he got away from one - he would get crashed into by another one! Funny as hell!" The silver haired boy laughed.

Sora elbowed his boyfriend playfully and then the two started horsing around.

I realized that I had let go of Roxie's face, but it was still looking at me expectantly, completely ignoring Riku and Sora.

I looked back at the couple that was rolling around on the floor pretending to fight. "We were thinking of going to the ferris wheel. Sound good?" I asked them.

They stopped their punching and tickling to compose themselves.

"Great idea!" Screeched Sora, already ready to run off in the direction of the wheel.

Riku nodded. "Yeah, sounds good."

"Okay, let's go then." I smiled at Roxas as I stood up and reached out for him to grab my hand.

His fingers laced with mine and all four of us dashed off to the ferris wheel.

~_~_~_~_~

I was still holding my boyfriend's hand as we stood in the slightly long line. I traced my thumb over his thumb. "You're not gonna throw up, right?" I teased.

"Hah. No." The blonde answered.

"Good." I threw him a charming wink and I knew he couldn't help but smile back.

"So… me and Riku want our own." Stated Sora to Roxas.

"Not surprised." He smirked at his brother. "Just clean up your mess before you get off."

Sora blushed. "Oh please! I could tell you the same thing!"

I tried not to laugh at the image that snaked into my mind from the simple comment.

Roxas punched his brother with his free hand playfully. And Sora stuck his tongue out.

"You're such an immature dork." Roxie told him.

"Yeah, but I'm still older." Smiled the brunette.

"I love how you _always_ make my point for me."

"Now, now children." Teased Riku. "We're moving ahead in line."

We all moved forward in the line a little. It was almost our turn to get on.

I released my hand from Roxas's and slid my arms around his waist instead. He rested against me almost immediately.

Again I noted how nice the feeling was of his weight resting on me, and of every place our bare skin was touching. He made me feel complete.

We were standing directly behind Sora and Riku, but I wasn't paying attention to what they were saying to each other - although they did kiss randomly in the middle of whatever conversation they were having.

I wanted Roxas and I to be like them eventually. To be together and happy all the time. To be completely and totally in love. Like they were.

I leaned my head down onto Roxie's shoulder and turned so I could give him a kiss on the cheek. Then I couldn't help myself. I was just so happy to finally be Roxas's boyfriend. I thought it would never happen. I squeezed him tighter and nuzzled his neck. He rested one of his hands on top of mine and then snaked it's partner behind him to twine in my red spiky locks as he turned his head so he could meet his lips with mine. We kissed deeply for a moment and I had to keep myself calm. I was feeling way too good with life.

"Hey, Lovebirds. We'll meet you at the exit." Said Riku, making us break the kiss.

Riku and Sora piled into the little rocking cart before it started to slowly move upwards.

Roxas and I completely untangled ourselves so we could get on the next one.

The space inside was small and cozy. There were two tiny bench-like things and a giant window-like thing that we could see out of. When I sat down, my boyfriend sat right up next to me so that our legs were touching. I rested my hand on his thigh. The denim of his pants were really warm against my palm.

I felt it rock a little as we started to ascend. I began to massage his inner thigh as I stared out the window.

"So to answer your question…" I started, nervously.

I felt the heat of his gaze on my face. I turned to him. His royal blue eyes captivated me for a moment. So much so that I found it hard to speak.

"To answer your question…" I said again. "I've…" I didn't want to say the big 'L-word' yet. I was honestly just too afraid to. It was hard to believe that such a cocky guy like me was scared of something so simple, but I was. "I've _really_, really liked you, Roxas… for a _really_, really long time. Basically since I first laid eyes on you."

And then when it was out of my mouth I wanted to shoot myself. 'Since I first laid eyes on you.'

Obviously I had to have been on some type of crack to say something like that. But what freaked me out was that it was the utter truth.

I couldn't read Roxie's expression. He opened his mouth to speak twice and he closed it twice. I watched him swallow hard.

The cart stopped and I felt it rock a little. I knew they were letting more people on. My hand had stopped massaging Roxas's thigh. Instead it just stayed resting there.

"So… yeah, Rox. I meant it." I whispered, leaning my face closer to his. I never broke contact with his eyes.

He gulped audibly again. It was adorable when he was nervous. Although I was pretty nervous myself.

I felt his one of his arms slide around my neck, his hand lacing in the back of my hair, and he very slowly brought my head closer to his.

Just as I slid my eyes closed, I felt the ferris wheel starting to move again and Roxas's lips met mine.

We kissed very softly for a moment. Then we pulled apart and looked at each other. I felt a little smile on my face, like the one that I saw on Roxie's before we went back in for another kiss - except a deeper one.

I removed my left hand from his thigh and turned myself so that my right hand could cup his face when he removed his hand from the back of my head and slid it down to my lower back. He ran his hand up and down my back slowly and gently. It felt nice.

We only continued to make out for a few moments before I broke it off and kissed down his neck to his collar bone and then back up to peck him on the lips once more.

I brushed some of his hair out of his eyes and smiled at him. He smiled back.

I felt the wheel make a stop again.

I pulled my boyfriend sideways into my lap and wrapped my arms around him. As he snuggled into me and we watched the theme park from high, high up in the sky - I felt like I was in utter bliss.

"I wouldn't mind being up here forever." Stated Roxas quietly.

"Neither would I." I replied in a whisper, burying my face into his hair.

I heard him make a sound that was like a sigh of contentment.

~_~_~_~_~

"So… where to _now_?" Asked Riku as Roxas and I reached the ferris wheel's exit. Our hands were intertwined again.

It kind of bugged me that Roxas never said anything in response to what I had told him. I mean, yeah, he kissed me. But there was no, "I've liked you for four years, too." or anything like that.

But I decided that being happy with what I had was the smart way to go. I loved him, and I knew that eventually if we kept up the way we were - then one day he would love me too.

I noticed something odd about Sora. Riku was squeezing his hand tightly, and his head was down. He wasn't bouncy or hyper at all.

Roxas noticed it to.

"What's wrong, Sor?" He asked his brother.

Sora looked up and shook his head.

"Something reminded him of…" Was all Riku had to say to explain.

"No. It doesn't matter. Like a bandaid, right? We're here to have fun. Let's go on that thing that plays loud music and goes in circles." The brunette smiled slightly.

My little blonde looked at the ground. I squeezed his hand.

Apparently we had all forgotten why we had actually come.

"You know what, Sora? I love that ride. Good idea." I wanted everyone to be bubbly and hyper again.

I kissed Roxas on the temple before we all went off.

~_~_~_~_~

I was in a car with Roxas. The seating was small and we were quiet squished together. But it was thrilling waiting for the ride to start. There were flashing lights and the song, _Here in Your Arms _by HelloGoodbye blasted through the multiple speakers.

Roxie was still looking a little sad, so I decided to amuse him. "Our lips… can touch. And our cheeks… can brush. Our lips… can touch… here." I was singing the monotone-ish electronica song obnoxiously.

He giggled.

Most of the people on the ride were _screeching_ the song like their life depended on it. The atmosphere of all the happy people was great.

"Whispers, "Hello, I've missed you quite terribly." I fell in love, in love with you suddenly…" I continued to sing to him batting my eyelashes and purposely fucking up the key it was suppose to be sung in.

He's giggles turned into actual laughter. "You're a dumbass."

"Put away your claws, Kitty." I chuckled, pecking him on the cheek.

I whooped when the ride started going suddenly.

_Well you are the one, the one that lies close to me._

_Whispers, "Hello, I've missed you quite terribly."_

_I fell in love, in love with you suddenly._

_There's no where else I could be but here in your arms._

We were laughing as it started to go faster. I felt like I was flying. It was great. The music blasted and the rhythm was in sync with my heart. All the people were singing louder and louder.

The lyrics and instrumentals danced around in my head.

The ride slowed and then started moving backwards. Roxas and I laughed and whooped like all the other excited people surrounding us.

By the time it was over we were laughing hysterically for no reason. Maybe just because it was so much fun.

We found out we weren't the only ones who had fun by the time we got out of the restraints.

Riku and Sora were falling over with laughter when we saw them at the exit.

"You guys had fun I take it?" I smirked.

"Actually, yeah. But this beats any of the rides here!" Snorted Sora, completely on his knees with laughter.

"What?" I asked, looking where Sora was looking.

Riku pointed as he tried to hold himself up from his laughing fit.

And then I saw it.

Xion wasn't too far from where we stood. And surrounding her was Demyx, Zexion, Hayner, Cloud, Leon, and Namine rolling around on the ground in worse fits of laughter than Sora and Riku. Kairi was holding up some of Xion's hair and I could see a wad of something pink sticking between it all. Kairi looked like she was choking back tears of laughter.

And Xion was practically crying every time Kairi yanked.

The bitch had gotten a wad of gum stuck in her hair somehow. I burst out laughing myself.

Soon, Roxas followed suit.

"She's gonna have to shave her head into a Mohawk." Riku stuttered through the laughter.

The image in my head made me fall on the ground and clutch my stomach.

After a few moments, we all calmed down and went up to the group.

"What happened?" Asked Sora, obviously holding it in.

"Well…" Started Kairi as she pulled on the pink goo again. "It was kind of my fault."

"Kind of? It was _all_ your fault." Xion moaned.

"Well, Namine and I were playing a game to see how many pieces of gum we could chew at once. I got up to eight… and Demyx was skipping in circles while we were doing this and he tripped and fell on his face… it made me laugh so hard that I sent the gum in my mouth flying at Xion who unluckily happened to be less than a foot away from me." Kairi giggled.

"Wow." Riku snorted.

"It's never gonna come out! I'm gonna have to go bald!" Cried the black haired bitch.

"Oh suck it up. I can buy you a wig." Smiled Kairi.

Xion wailed.

I held in another laugh.

Until I saw something that wasn't so funny.

"Axel?" Asked a very familiar blue-haired man that happened to be walking by. He stopped abruptly when he saw me.

Saix.

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**I love leaving people hanging. POWER TO THE AUTHOR! :O**

**Review, and maybe I'll make a longer better chapter next time around. ;)**

**BTW - I really love the people who have been showing me your favorite parts. I give cookies to you all!**

**xox Rose Riku**


	9. Nine: Roxas

**-shot- I am so sorry! So so so so sorry. I made all of you guys wait such a long time for this. I literally got PMs saying to hurry the EFF up. Again, I apologize extremely! Life got in the way, as well as some writer's block. This chapter is an annoying hump. The next one will be fangirl-happy though. (: PROMISE!**

**I would love to thank: _Naive-Symphony, The Foolish Author, Blood as soft as Silk, Rachexa Chim, AliceWillBeAlice, , AxelAnimeYaoi96, DarkAngelGrl22567, FoxYaoi123, ., Valinda Blade, Sammy-Dee, and SarahXxUnlovedXx _**

**You guys really make this so much more fun. I love seeing what everyone thinks of this story and how they think of the characters. If it wasn't for you, I would have given this piece of crap up completely. Thank you. :D**

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**The Promises of Summer**

**Chapter Nine**

**Point of View: Roxas**

My stomach was aching from laughing so hard. Nothing's funnier than seeing a girl you hate get gum stuck in her hair. Seriously.

But then my stomach started aching from something else.

Saix had called Axel's name. Saix. The one that I had basically forgotten even existed until I heard his stupid throaty voice.

Saix, the blue-haired wonder, hated me. He had _always_ hated me, ever since I met him my freshman year. And I had never even _done_ anything to him! He had gone to junior high and elementary school with Axel. They had been best friends, so when Axel moved, Saix had tried to visit him as much as possible.

But whenever they got together, it was obvious that they were at _least_ friends with benefits. They'd get drunk, snog, and almost always fuck.

I had always assumed that Saix was the first one Axel had ever done anything with - not that I ever really cared. But Saix was the one I expected Axel had learned it all from. Saix was a bigger manwhore than anyone I'd ever known, including Xion - which was saying a lot.

But the last time Saix came to see Axel… they had gotten into a huge argument. About what, I will probably never know considering Axe spared me the details. But that day, Axel claimed he never wanted to see the Blue-Haired Wonder ever again. And so I basically just forgot he existed, since I hadn't heard his name come up in about a year, maybe a little more.

But there he stood - real, and a potential threat to me now. I felt those gears kick in that you feel when you are possessive over something and someone wants to take it. I felt the jealousy bubbling inside me just from the sight of him _looking_ at my boyfriend. And it was all because of the stuff they had done in the past.

"Saix." I heard Axel greet him stiffly.

"You know, it's funny… I was planning on stopping by your place sometime this week. I have something I'd like to return to you." He smiled wickedly.

"And what would that be?" Asked my boyfriend. I was curious myself.

I heard everyone near us talking to each other. I noticed Sora and Riku were staying and watching the scene like I was while everyone else shuffled off somewhere. It made me almost laugh out loud again to see Xion clutching her head in such a way.

"Oh it's a surprise." The Blue-Haired Wonder said in a happy tone, bringing my eyes away from the gang and back to him and my boyfriend.

Axel folded his arms. "I don't really like surprises."

"Well you'll like this one, trust me." Some guy appeared next to him then. He had silver hair (like Riku's) but tan skin, and frightening eyes.

"Who's this?" This weird man asked Saix.

"An old friend." Saix answered slyly. "Well… I must be off. See you soon, Axe." He paused and nodded at me. "Roxas."

I nodded ever so slightly back at him. Axel almost immediately turned away from Saix and slung an arm around my shoulder, turning me around and pulling me in the opposite direction of the two older guys and more towards Sora and Riku. I felt eyes watching our backs, and I wondered if Saix was just picking up that Axel and I were a couple. It made me feel giddy, like I won some sort of contest. I couldn't help it.

"So… uh… where to now?" Piped up Sora as we all fell into step together.

"I say Roxie here picks." Grinned the red head that was connected to me. I could feel him doing that thing again where his mind was elsewhere, but he was putting on some sort of act. I wondered if he ever actually missed Saix. Maybe he was just trying to think of what this surprise was.

"Uh… I don't care." I said honestly. I didn't.

Eventually we all just decided to grab some lunch and relax in a shady spot somewhere for a bit.

I got myself a nice serving of chili cheese fries, and a cherry coke of course. Anyone who knew me knew that I wasn't someone who gave a crap about the health benefits of what I ate. In fact, I basically _only _at the junk. If it wasn't high in fat, salt, or sugar - I usually didn't like it. Axel was the same way. He got himself a huge thing of supreme nachos along with his own cherry coke.

Sora and Riku each got a burger and shared a huge milkshake with each other. They were such a cliché couple sometimes. But it was cute.

"So… what exactly was all that Saix crap about?" Asked the silver-haired boy as he sunk his teeth into his burger.

"Not really sure." Axel answered simply.

"Why do you think he was even here?" Riku continued.

"Dude… we _are_ in my hometown. The bastard lives only like ten minutes away from here probably." He picked at his nachos.

I hadn't even been thinking about that. We were in Axel's hometown. It was the town he lost _his _parents in. The place he lived in for about thirteen years. He didn't seemed to be phased by it. He hadn't been acting any different… but maybe he had on his mask and was playing his part.

Riku munched on his burger some more. "Oh, right."

"Well what do you think it is he wants to give you?" I asked him. I wondered if I was more curious than he was.

Licking some cheese off his fingers, he didn't look up. "No clue."

"Nothing bad?" My brother looked up from his lunch with huge, worried eyes.

"I don't think it's bad." Answered Axel honestly.

He seemed reserved. I had this feeling that he knew what this item was and just wasn't telling us. I figured I would find out soon enough anyways.

It was late afternoon - finally starting to cool down a little bit. I hated it when the sun was beating down on me constantly.

Popping the last fry in my mouth, I tossed the container aside and then stretched out in the grass on my stomach facing Sora and Riku. I rested on my elbows and started pulling out the grass blade by blade beneath me just like I did when I was a little kid.

As I was spacing out, playing in the dirt, I felt something went and warm get pressed against my cheek. "Ahh." I whined, wiping my face. "Ew." I complained when I realized it was melted cheese.

Axel laughed and attempted assaulting my face with cheese dip once again, but I rolled over onto my back and he got the grass. Sora started laughing too, and chucked a mayo-covered piece of lettuce at Axel - getting it right in his hair.

Then Riku was the one to crack up. "Nice knowing you, Babe." He said to my brother.

"Crap!" I heard Sora shout. I was laying on my back so I had to watch him upside down, but he got up and moved over to hide behind Riku.

My boyfriend stood up, towering over me as he made sure every last dot of mayonnaise was out of his red locks. "That…" He began to say once he was done his inspection. "Was uncalled for." He said to my brother with mock anger.

"Now I must take it out on your brother." Axel grinned at Sora before shooting me a menacing look.

"What did _I_ do?" I heard myself giggle.

Like some sort of sexy animal, he pounced on me. "You missed some." He said, licking my cheek where he had gotten that cheesy goo on me.

"Ewwww." I whined again, smacking him away, but I couldn't stifle my giggles. I heard Sora and Riku making stupid comments while laughing at us.

Axel ended up completely on top of me, pinning me to the ground. He looked at me with an amused expression. "You're such a girl."

I heard Sora laugh hard at this line. Stupid sibling with immature humor.

"Oh really?" I asked Axel sarcastically, with my eyebrows raised. "Would you like me to prove--"

"No! There will be no proving of gender here!" My brother barked - waving his hands in front of his face as if I was about to really strip off my pants.

"Aw." Pouted my boyfriend.

I felt myself blushing.

The redhead stood up and brushed himself off, fixing his hair cautiously. I watched him intently. He was beautiful just doing the simplest things.

Suddenly, Sora leaped on me and scared me half to death.

"God!" I shouted.

"Yes?" Axel grinned. I ignored him.

"Why is everyone picking on me?" I asked out loud to everyone but stared at the brunette on top of me.

"I just am because I'm older." Sora then ruffled my hair way more than he should have. I leaped up, knocking him off me and tried fixing it.

"Go bother Riku." I told him half serious and half joking.

He took me seriously. He ran over and glomped him. But Riku seemed far from bothered.

"So…" Axel spoke up after throwing away all of our crap. "Where to now?"

The next few hours went by fast. The next thing I knew was that it was dark out, and there was a lot less people around. It was nice and cool and I loved how everything was lit up. I was in a great mood - feeling a lot better about everything. I was enjoying myself. Even as we met up with the rest of the gang, I wasn't perturbed by Xion or Hayner.

"Whew." My brother laughed. "Did you guys go on every single thing like we did?" He asked Cloud, Leon, Demyx, Zexion, Kairi, Namine, Hayner, and Xion.

"And then some." Kairi smiled.

"How's your hair?" Axel asked Xion insincerely with a smirk.

"Shut it." The black-haired girl replied bitterly, but I heard the teasing in her voice.

Xion's hair, I noticed, had a slightly different hairstyle it seemed. Different layers, going up in the back of her hair and it looked like her bangs were spread out more.

"I put my art to good use!" Demyx grinned from ear to ear. He loved styling people's hair. "IN THE MIDDLE OF A THEME PARK!" He added. "_Damn_, I'm talented." The Sitar Man then looked over at Zexion and smiled slyly. "At many things."

Demyx's boy toy didn't change his blank expression.

"Alright, I've heard enough." Namine put her hands over her ears before looking directly at me, Axel, Sora, and Riku. "You guys are so lucky you haven't had to deal with Demyx all night!"

"Hey!" The sandy-blonde smacked the platinum-blonde playfully on the shoulder. She laughed.

"Hey, nature is calling my name. Be right back, guys." Piped up my brother suddenly. Everyone chuckled at his comment before he ran off to the restrooms.

Riku jogged after him, because the two even needed to go to the bathroom together.

A lot of our gang ran off to go get food from different random spots, but me and Axel stayed put to wait for my brother and his boyfriend.

"God, they're taking a while." I rolled my eyes. "Probably started making out in a stall. I'll go get them."

"I'll wait right here." My boyfriend smiled at me. I melted for a second but pulled myself back together so I could run off and do my mission.

The second I opened the creaky, warn-out metal door to the men's restroom area I knew things weren't good. It was too quiet. After taking a couple steps in I realized it was vacant besides my brother and Riku who were sitting on the tiled floor, leaning against a wall. Sora had his head in his hands that rested on his knees which were pulled up to his chest. The silver-haired boy next to him was muttering words in his ear, I assume trying to calm him down, while he had his arms around him.

They didn't even realize I had walked in.

"S-Sora?" I called out, hearing myself stutter.

His head shot up, as well as Riku's. "Oh. Roxas, sorry, we're keeping everyone waiting aren't we? I-"

"What happened?" I asked him, interrupting. I walked over and kneeled in front of them.

"I'm sorry, Roxas." Sora wailed.

"What happened?" I repeated, panicking.

"Nothing exactly _happened_." He sniffed. "I just _can't_ take it anymore!" My brother's voice broke. "I've always been the kind of kid who pulled his band aids off slowly!" A sob escaped him.

"Sora…" Riku whispered, stroking his shoulder and trying to soothe him.

"I've been trying my best to have fun, but it really hasn't been working. I keep thinking I'm gonna go home and tell mom and dad about all the crazy rides we went on - but then it hits me that I just _can't_. I will _never_ be able to." The brunette's breathing was labored. "And Riku, Honey, God knows I love you and I love staying at your place but I just really miss home…"

Riku squeezed Sora tighter and kissed the side of his head. He left his mouth lingering in Sora's spiky hair. "I know, Baby. I know. I'm sorry."

"_You're_ sorry?" I glared at Riku. "All of this is _my _fault." There it was again. That horrible feeling of guilt that never really left me when I found out what I did - but it was just in the back of my mind. And now it was the only thing I could feel. My stomach was turning, I felt the chili cheese fries from earlier coming up.

Sora made a screwed up face for a second before looking at me with enraged eyes. "Stop blaming yourself! It's just one of those things that happen. It sucks, but it's not your fault! Things will get better with time…"

"You keep saying stuff like that Sora! 'Things will get better in time' you're such a fucking hypocrite! The truth is - we wouldn't be feeling like shit, you wouldn't be crying your eyes out, and mom and dad would still be alive if I wasn't such a goddamn fuck-up. Okay? That's the truth and you know it. And you also know - we're never going to get over any of this." The words just kept tumbling out of my mouth. But I realized that I meant them. I had been fooling myself all day as well. My mind flipping to my parents constantly, but I refused to acknowledge it.

I noticed some guy had stepped in the bathroom, but stepped right back out after seeing us.

My brother and his boyfriend looked speechless.

"No…" Sora whimpered. "No, Roxas. You need to stop being so stubborn! It was just an accident that no one could have guessed!"

"Could have guessed?! Sora… I _remember _you telling me about the wiring…" I screamed, standing up.

"Yes but… you had a lot on your mind that day. Plus, mom or dad could have gone upstairs to check to see if your computer was on before turning on anything in the kitchen! It. Was. An. Accident." Sora hissed through his teeth.

"You guys… calm down." Riku spoke as calmly as he could. Usually he got more worked up than either of _us_.

"I wish it was me instead of them." I whispered, looking up at the ceiling.

I was so stirred up inside, that I couldn't cry. I didn't even know if I was sad.

"That's crazy, Roxas." My brother's eyes were filled with fright.

"Why is it crazy, Sora?!" I don't know why I couldn't stop myself from freaking out. It was if the words were coming from someone else - not from me. "Mom and Dad never did anything wrong. They were always happy about who they were and made everything fun for everyone. Me? I bitch. I complain. I say and do things that are fucking stupid and I make a mess out of everything. I'm boring. I'm always in my own little world. I hate it. I hate existing - when they're _not_." I panted.

My eyes stung, and I shut them tightly. I felt like crying but I couldn't.

"Roxas, you're being ridiculous!! You're my brother and I need you. You're not boring, you don't make a mess out of everything, and you have tons of friends who would hate living without you." He countered. And added, "Plus… what about Axel? What do you think he would have done if it _had_ been you?"

"That question's moot. Because I would never let anything like that happen to Roxie." I heard that oh so familiar voice behind me. I never heard the door creak open.

"What's going on?" He asked, concerned.

"Nothing." Sora whispered, standing up.

"Really, you guys… what happened? I only caught the last sentence." Axel came near us and looked at each of our expressions. He looked straight into my eyes and then put his hands on my shoulders not breaking his gaze. "Roxie? What's the matter, Love?"

For once, I ignored Axel. "You're missing the point Sora." I didn't back down. "Yeah, maybe some people would have been upset. But when someone dies - someone is _always_ upset. But it should have been me. Not them. They didn't deserve to die."

"And you don't either!" Shouted Sora.

I heard Axel slightly gasp. "Roxas don't say stuff like that." His voice was dead serious.

I wiggled out of his grasp. "Why not? It's true. All you guys ever do is dance around the truth as if it doesn't exist. Well it does. Sora, It _is_ my fault. I _killed_ them. If I was you I wouldn't even want to see my damn face!"

I turned away from them and pushed the door open. I was sick of it.

I heard Axel call my name but I started to run. I wasn't sure where I was going. There was people everywhere - most looking at me with confusion. Several times I ran into ditsy blondes and tiny children. I never spared a minute to apologize.

Eventually I found a fairly deserted spot with a long green bench. I plopped myself down and panted hard. My chest felt hot. I shut my eyes and focused on my breathing.

I just wanted my space. I didn't want to be around everyone. None of them would acknowledge the fact that it was all my fault. They _knew_ it was and it pissed me off that no one was admitting it out loud.

I wanted Riku to pop me in the face for hurting Sora. Although if he said I didn't care about my brother again, I'd have to be the one popping _him_. But I did deserve to be hurt. I didn't deserve everyone being so nice to me.

I rested my head in my hands. I let out a pathetic sob and tried to hold myself together. I felt stupid for running. It wasn't really them I ran away from. I guess I imagined myself running so far away that everything could disappear. But I knew that that could only happen in an alternate universe.

I sat straight up, feeling sick. I shuddered as I swallowed down some vomit that had crept up.

I heard a dramatic sigh of relief, and it wasn't coming from me. I turned my head to see Axel catching his breath with his hands on his knees.

"You have reminded me that I need to start going to the gym." He grinned at me. I was annoyed at his attempt of humor when I clearly didn't feel like laughing. I looked away from him.

I heard him sigh again, except in different context this time before I felt the weight of the bench change.

"Alright, you can ignore me. But I know you can hear me - so just listen…" His voice was soft. I wished he understood that I just wanted to be by myself for a while. But I didn't say anything.

"I understand why you're upset, Love. _You_ were the one who left the computer on. _Yes_, we all know that. But… I mean, you're just a teenager who was in a hurry to go hang out with friends. They should have remembered to go upstairs and check-"

"What? Now you're blaming _them_?" I turned my head at him, seething. I hated getting mad at Axel, but sometimes I just couldn't help it.

"No, no… that's not what I'm getting at." His voice was calm even though I was practically lashing at him.

I said nothing and he continued. "Sora could have also reminded you. But the wiring problem just happened that day, you know? None of you were thinking much about it. You guys were just doing what you do every day. No one did anything wrong. It was a typical day, and there just happened to be an accident that no one could do anything about."

"An accident that _I_ caused! I could have shut the damn thing off, but I'm so fucking self-absorbed. I had stuff on my mind and-" Axel was the one on my mind that night. I had been freaking out about who he had a crush on! How childish was that? I had finally pieced together that he was talking about me (I think) but if I wasn't so hung up on him, everything would be easier.

If he knew what I was thinking half the time, he'd think I was mental for sure.

Maybe I was.

I wanted to tell him goodbye right there. I wanted to just walk to my car alone, leaving all my shit at Axel's, take out the money I had saved for school, and just go live somewhere else where no one knew who I was.

And I really almost did.

But a firm hand on my leg stopped me. It was accompanied with Axel's voice. "You know…I'm a coward. That's why I'm sarcastic and I make stupid jokes and I act immature. It's because I'm afraid."

I was taken back by his comment. Where did that come from? What was he talking about? "Of what?"

"A lot of things…" Almost silent.

I didn't know what to make of his words. He always seemed optimistic and brave to me. I always envied Axel because he usually said what was on his mind easily.

"Sometimes I wanna just throw myself in a corner and cry. But usually when I feel like that, the only thing I find being thrown is my fist - into a wall… or a person's face." He looked down.

He'd been in a few bar brawls before. Been in a couple fights at school.

"People see that as being tough. I see it as being a coward."

I was pretty sure I finally understood.

"Do you know how many people would end up with broken faces if that _had_ been you?" Smirked Axel.

It was hard for me to not crack a smile.

"Leaving the computer on was a simple mistake. No one blames you. Sora's upset about what happened; but he doesn't blame you one bit. You need to forgive yourself, Roxas. I'm afraid you're gonna-" He choked on his words.

"We don't want you to keep thinking that it should have been you. You're here right now. Where you should be." His last two sentences were a meek whisper.

The red-head stood up suddenly and loomed in front of me. "Now, everyone is waiting for us. You promised me something, remember?"

I must have looked at him with question written on my face.

"You said you'd have fun tonight." He grinned, taking both my hands and pulling me up.

I still didn't want to go face Sora and Riku. I felt like an asshole. I felt like an idiot. And things hadn't changed - it was still my fault.

Axel looked down at me and frowned. "Hey…" He whispered as he pulled me into him. My arms slid around his waist as I pressed my cheek to his chest. I felt his hands on my back guiding me as close to him as possible.

"Roxie, Love… We're here to have fun. Think you can push this aside just for awhile?" He asked me.

"I was doing good…" I muttered.

"I know. You were. It's been a good day. But…" My boyfriend pulled back a little, but slid his hands up to my shoulders as if to hold me down. His right hand snaked under my chin and tilted my face up towards him. He left a soft kiss on my lips. His voice changed to my silly, cocky Axel once again. "The night is still young, Sexy."

I couldn't help it. I giggled a little.

"_There's_ my Roxie." He teased, ruffling my hair. "Now come _on_, they're probably all thinking we got decapitated by a roller coaster or something." He grabbed my hand.

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**I didn't proof this, so there's sure to be zillions of mistakes. But at least it's HERE. Next chapter will thrill you I promise. I'm a sucker for drama! (:**

**Reviews are greatly appreciated. Name will be put in next chapter. Sorry for this boring hump of dialogue. **

**xox Rose**

We ran off together, people still everywhere. People still staring. Except this time people saw a happy couple, running to their friends. Not a boy who was alone and running _from them. _


	10. Ten: Axel

**Aloha! Sorry for the long wait. This is like more dramatic than Degrassi High (okay, maybe not) but yeah. It's a prettyy dramatic story. I like drama in stories. Can't help myself. But it's not a tragedy so bear with me for the happy ending! (:**

**Disclaimer: Blah blah blah. I don't own jack shit. Obviously.**

**Warning: May be some mistakes in hurrr. I didn't edit. Too lazy. XD**

**NOTE: CHECK OUT MY OTHER AKUROKU FIC VULNERABLE! HEEHEE.  
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**The Promises of Summer**

**Chapter Ten: Axel**

For a few days after our gang's little trip to the theme park, it was pretty uneventful. Roxas and I lugged our lazy asses to work every day, dealing with whiny little brats who wanted games that we didn't have, and enraged parents who didn't want their kids buying a game we _did_ have because of partial nudity… or swearing… or something lame like that.

Over those few days, I could tell Roxas was trying to adjust. He was _trying_. And for that I gave him credit. He had a lot more fucking guts than I did, and he just didn't know it. But a couple times during the night I'd catch him. He'd think I was sleeping as he sat up and turned away, shaking. I could hear the slight hitches in his breath, the little squeaks his voice made, I could hear him trying to get himself to stop crying.

The first time, I was pretty upset. But I didn't say or do anything. I pretended to still be asleep. But as I kept checking the digital clock, I'd realized an hour had gone by. His sobbing long stopped by then, but he just sat there, feeling miserable. He never came out and said he felt miserable, but I could tell. I could feel it too.

So I called his name out gently, hearing it float in the darkness of my room. It didn't jump him, but I could tell he was surprised to hear me awake. He looked over at me, slowly moving his head - acknowledging my presence but not speaking. I placed my hand on his lower back and slid it around to his stomach - putting the lightest pressure on him, coaxing him to lay back down.

Roxas gave in pretty quickly, finding his place in my arms where I kissed him lightly on his forehead and we didn't say a single word. I waited patiently until he fell back asleep, and then I would let myself fall asleep again as well.

After the first time, I learned it wasn't just a one-time-thing. I woke up to him crying and instead of waiting, I just did the same thing I did the night before… pulling him back into bed with no words being exchanged. We'd wake up in the morning not saying a single thing about it. And Roxas seemed perfectly fine. It worried the hell out of me.

But he was getting better. He was getting a lot more comfortable living with me, he bought more clothes and random necessities, and I would see him typing away on his laptop every so often.

So, overall, everything was going pretty good.

"Hey, I'm just gonna drop you off then I'm gonna run over to Wal-Mart. Again." He smirked at me as he took his eyes off the road for a moment.

"Whatcha getting _now_?" I chuckled.

"More… random crap. Like a comb. And more clothes. Ugh." He shook his head, annoyed. "I never realized how many freaking outfits I used to own until I only have like… what, five?"

I barked out a laugh. "Gonna get some make-up, too, Roxie?"

"Shut up."

"Claws, Kitty. Watch those claws." I teased.

He just stuck his tongue out at me, and before long he was pulling into my driveway so I could hop out. I wanted to go with him, but I felt like we were together too much suddenly. Space was good - and as much as it annoyed me - I needed to be away from him _sometimes_.

But I leaned over for a quick kiss before I got out. "See you in a bit?" I asked when we parted.

"Yep. If you want I can pick up McDonald's." Roxas smiled at me.

"Yay! Artery clogging fast food sounds good to me!"

He chuckled. "Okay, then. Bye." He started messing with his hair in his mirror.

"Bye, Rox. I l-" I dug my front teeth into my bottom lips once I realized what I was about to say. I was really on the verge of casually saying those three little words. For a second, I wished I had. But I didn't want him to find out like that. I wanted to tell him at the right time - to make sure he got it in his head that I really _loved_ him.

"You what?" He asked while still messing with his hair in the mirror.

"Left my … wallet at the store." I answered slowly and unsurely.

Roxas looked completely oblivious. "Hmm? I thought I saw you put it in your co-"

"Oh. It _is_ here. Haha. Stupid mistake." I laughed nervously. He looked at me kinda funny but I could tell he didn't think much of it. "Anyways, See you later." I smiled before shutting the door.

I was an idiot.

And I felt like an even bigger idiot when I went to unlock my door and it was already unlocked.

_What the hell…?_

And once I was inside, I felt like a very _pissed_ idiot.

Saix. Was. Standing. In. My. Kitchen. Drinking. Coffee.

"WHAT THE HELL?" I heard myself bellow as soon as I saw that familiar blue hair.

I had forgotten that he knew where I hid my spare key… under the mat in front of the door. Oops.

"Hey there Flamesilocks." He grinned, sipping a cup of coffee that he had made in my kitchen. With one of my mugs.

"Get the fuck out. _Now_." I seethed.

"Touchy, Axel. I just came to bring you that thing."

"What thing?" I asked, confused.

"I told you I'd be coming over sometime this week. Remember? At the park?"

"Oh. Well what the hell is it?" I asked, annoyed. I wanted him out.

"Patience, darling." It was Saix's way of joking… but it sounded creepy.

"Saix. Really. I don't have time for this."

He rolled his eyes at me. "Since when do you not have time to spare?"

So technically I wasn't doing anything but waiting for Roxas to get back. But still.

Saix set down his cup of coffee and sauntered over to me like he had all the time in the world. "Axel, sit." He literally cooed as he stood directly in front of me, placing one of his hands on my chest and lightly pushing me so I would end up on the couch.

Fuck.

And then he straddled me.

I hissed at him. "Get the fuck off." Before shoving at his chest.

Saix was basically the only one who made me feel like a wimp. He always was.

"Calm down, Axel. I'm not gonna hurt you." He said it as if he was mocking me.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out something I thought I may never see again. I had forgotten about it for the most part. It had been left at his house once, from when I used to take it with me everywhere. I kept forgetting to go get it (it was hard since I didn't have a car) and he kept forgetting to bring it. Then we got into that fight and I thought I'd never see it again.

He held it in his hands and faced it towards me. It was a pink glass heart, solid, made to put outside in a garden for decoration or whatever. The top was round and the bottom was flat. My mom used to buy weird things like it all the time, and this was the only one that made it to the apartment with us when we moved. I took it without Reno noticing.

"You gonna take it or just stare at it?" He asked me, cocking his head.

"S-Sorry." I swallowed and took it from him. It was cool against my skin, just like it used to be. It was smooth and felt heavier than it looked. "Thanks." I mumbled.

I met Saix's eyes and he stared at me, a little smile on his lips. "I'm sure you missed it."

"I did." I said honestly. When I held it close to my face I could smell my mother. I swear I could. Her Japanese Cherry Blossom perfume filling my nostrils.

"Can this be my peace offering?" Saix asked me, placing a hand of his on my cheek and running it up into my hair. I froze.

I understood that Saix brought the heart because he wanted to make me happy, he wanted me to forgive him, he wanted to go back to being friends, and he also probably wanted to fuck. Shit, shit, shit.

"Um, Saix…" I started, breathing in. I loosely grabbed his wrist and moved it away from my face.

His face dropped noticeably.

"I'm with Roxas now, so…" So what? So don't touch me like that? So stop straddling me? Stop making moves?

He chuckled. "How did that happen? Finally stop being a pussy long enough to confess your dying love for him?"

"Well… not exactly." I shifted uncomfortably underneath Saix, willing him to get off.

He rolled his eyes. "Get the balls to admit it. You're pathetically obsessed with him."

"I'm not obsessed wi--"

"You called me Roxas once when we were having sex." He raised his eyebrows at me knowingly.

And I will say that that was only one time, and I was tired and drunk.

"You used to get all upset when he didn't seem to be catching any of your pathetic 'hints'. You'd hook up with someone and pretend you were happy with that. You would say all these nice and wonderful things to me and _pretend_ I was good enough for you." He looked bitter and hurt and angry all at once.

I didn't say anything.

"Do you think he loves _you_?" Saix asked me.

"I wonder that all the time." I answered.

"Maybe you're just an experiment to him. Maybe he just wants to see what it's like to be more than friends. Maybe he is just _desperate_ for affection and attention, I assume with the way you are that you certainly give him enough." Blue Haired Wonder smirked menacingly.

I placed one of my hands on his chest and was just about to push him off me. My other hand clutched the heart.

Then I saw the headlights in the driveway from the window.

Fuck.

Just as I shoved, Saix slammed himself even closer onto me - pinning my back into the back of the couch. He was the only person I'd ever had trouble fighting back.

"Well, then." He smiled evilly. "Let's answer this question now, shall we?"

I heard the footsteps on the stairs.

Fuck. No.

No.

No.

I tried to move my head but his was suddenly _there_. I tried pushing my face away, but his lips connected with mine.

No.

No.

I didn't respond at all. I was so scared. I was angry. I was upset.

The smallest part of me… it wanted to see if Roxas would really care if he saw Saix straddling me and kissing me.

But most of me? It was screaming in agony to the point where I couldn't move. I was frozen. I didn't want the slightest chance of Roxas being hurt. Not now. Not by me. Not when everything was going so good.

I watched the door open, since my eyes weren't closed like Saix's were. I panicked.

"Guess whatttt?" Roxie's singsong voice. He was happy.

But he just stopped in the doorway when he saw us. I made a sudden movement, but I don't remember exactly what I did. I just did something stupid and quick to try to shake the guy off of me.

Our lips parted and his force released. I literally jumped out from underneath him and scrambled onto the other side of the couch.

It all seemed slow motion, but it happened it no more than two seconds. I felt adrenaline rushing through me.

Saix had stood up and looked at Roxas. Roxas just kind of stood there, looking blank, a little confused. He had a McDonald's bag in one hand and a couple Wal-Mart bags in the other. They seemed to be weighing him down.

"Oh, um…" Saix, the bastard, was trying to sound all fucking shocked, like he just got caught.

I couldn't find anything to say. I cowered half-kneeling on the couch, and half-standing on the floor.

"Heh, this is awkward." Saix grinned. He fucking _grinned. _The dirty little bastard.

Roxas turned, set the bags on the table. His face was away from us. "Whatever." His voice was thick with disappointment but I could tell he was trying to hide it.

I'd hurt him. Me.

"It's not like I thought Axel was _serious_." Roxas spoke words like they were bullets, shooting through my heart. He wasn't joking, he wasn't lying. He meant it. He didn't think I was serious. He didn't think I seriously liked him, or wanted to stay exclusive to him, or any of that. My lungs felt like they were filled with water.

I clutched the heart in my hand.

The blonde's head was still turned away, and Saix looked at me. He shook his head and smiled as if to laugh in my face at the irony that is my life.

I loved Roxas.

I loved him and he didn't _ever_ realize it.

So I hooked up with random people to make myself feel better.

And then I end up with Roxas finally…

And he doesn't think I'm serious about him. About us.

"No." I mumbled, standing up completely. "No, Roxas, I…" And I honestly felt tears in my eyes. My vision was blurring. My throat was so tight. I hadn't felt like that in so long.

"Oh, _God_ I do _not_ want to hear this." Saix rolled his eyes. "Roxas, Axel is madly and freakishly in love with you. He's just a pussy, and therefore lacking balls to say so. I was just playing around a little to see how you'd react. Apparently it wasn't the Jerry Springer episode I was hoping for. He didn't kiss me back, so keep your panties on. He's clearly serious about you. So if you'll excuse me…" And Saix walked over to me for a moment, looking me in the eye.

I didn't want it to be that way. I didn't want Saix to be ruining it. I should have told Roxas on the ferris wheel. I was stupid, stupid, stupid. I couldn't see anything anymore, my vision was so blurry. But I didn't want a tear to shed. I didn't. I kept trying to swallow. I felt like I was drowning again.

"When he dumps your pathetic ass don't come crying to me." And then he knocked my mother's heart right out of my hand. It crashed near the couch, loudly, making me jump. It was so ear-piercing. And then I couldn't contain it. And I felt one tear go down, then another. It was a strange feeling.

I stared at the ground. I had _just_ gotten it back. And now it was ruined. I should have known better.

"Oh suck it up." Saix shook his head at me. He was about to turn to the door, but I felt that horrible feeling in my stomach where I knew I wanted to sob and it pissed me off. Instead of letting that single sob out, I punched Blue-Haired Wonder right in the jaw. He let out a cry of surprise.

Saix stumbled backwards, holding his jaw, his eyes shut. "Fuck you." He sputtered.

I looked at Roxas. He was looking from me, to Saix, to the mess on the floor. Even Roxas remembered when I used to have that heart. I could see his chest heaving, and I could tell he was frozen in spot - not knowing what to do. Our eyes locked for a moment, and his were filled with nothing but concern. My heart melted. I was about to break down.

I glanced back at the heart on the floor. It wasn't completely _shattered_, but it wouldn't be able to be fixed. Several chunks of a once perfect heart that belong to my mother were strewn about. I hated Saix. I hated him.

The Blue-Haired Wonder dashed over to Roxas, looking fed up. He grabbed Roxas's chin roughly and held it out to me. "What would happen if I punched your little boy toy right in the face? Would you love him then?"

"Don't fucking touch him." I hissed.

He ignored me. "What if I took out one of your steak knives and left a beautiful X-shaped scar on his fore--"

"Don't _fucking_ touch him." I stormed over, trying to look threatening.

He ignored me more. "--head? What about then?"

Saix always brought everything back to the scar on his head. He thought it was why people disliked him. I could care less about his scar. He was just an asshole.

Roxas ripped his head out of Saix's hand and moved away from him, ending up closer to me. He stumbled in the process, probably because he was scared.

I moved in the space between Saix and Roxas.

"Big tough guy." Saix smirked, turning towards the door. "The blonde isn't worth it anyway."

I saw my blue-haired ex whip out his phone as he grabbed the doorknob. "Oh, and you might wanna clean that up." He said to me while pressing buttons on his phone, glancing at the broken heart.

I felt like I was going to throw up.

He barked out a laugh and opened the door. He put the phone to his ear. "Xem, come get me…" I heard as he shut the door and I heard him dash down the stairs.

It was silent for a minute. My heart was racing. My throat still swollen shut.

I turned around and looked at Roxas. His eyes big. His breathing was shaky. He didn't need any of the drama that seemed to be happening so much in such a little period of time.

"Are you alright?" Roxas asked, looking at me with worried eyes. His voice soft.

I opened my mouth to speak. To say something cocky. _Of course I'm fine_._ Saix is the one with the freshly broken jaw._

But nothing came out.

Nothing.

And I crumpled. I fell to my knees because I couldn't support my own weight. I shook my head 'no'. I closed my eyes and I felt more tears escape me. I felt my throat tighten more if that was even possible. I heard a strangled sob escape me and it sounded like a dying animal.

I heard Roxas hurry over to me, dropping to his knees himself. My heart couldn't handle it. Any of it. I was going mental or something. I was so emotionally fucked up.

He pulled me into him, my face ended up buried in his chest. I made even more pathetic gasps and sighs and sobs and cries. I couldn't stop. I guess I just had to let out all the tears that I had been holding.

Roxas was squeezing me tight to him and rubbing my back and touching my hair. After a bit of this, he pulled me away from him and wiped his hand on my soaked cheeks. I let out strangled breaths.

"Talk to me." He whispered.

I tried speaking, but these weird breaths just kept coming out of me. I couldn't stop them. They hurt my chest.

"Take a deep breath." He suggested as he started running one of his fingertips up and down my left cheek.

I did. I had to take a few to actually calm down. Every time I inhaled I kept shuddering and shaking.

"I--" I tried again, my voice cracking. I felt so pathetic.

I didn't even know what I wanted to say first.

I looked up at Roxas. He took both my hands and stood up suddenly, then pulled me over to the couch, dragging me into his lap sideways. Now I had to look down on him again as usual. He slid his arms around my waist to keep me in place.

He didn't seem impatient, or mad, or annoyed. He seemed calm, worried, and like he was anticipating something. I couldn't keep him waiting. I decided to dive right in.

Looking him in the eyes I spoke.

"I love you." I managed to choke out. I felt Roxas tense. "Roxas, I've always loved you." I swallowed, I realized I had raised my voice. My cheeks were starting to feel stiff from dried tears.

"I can't even remember a time when I didn't love you. And Saix is right that I'm pathetic and… and I'm a coward and… I just… I don't know." I sighed with frustration.

So it was out, while I was a sniffling, red-faced, wheezing, rambling mess on his lap. But it was out.

Ho-ly shit.

He looked down, but I could see his cheeks were red. His blonde hair hung in front of his eyes. I ran my tongue over my lips and held my breath. He was still clutching me tightly. My heart was doing back flips and somersaults. I was on the verge of needing a paper bag to breath in.

I cupped his face in my hands and made him look at me. He closed his eyes briefly, and when he opened them two tears rolled slowly down his both sides of his face. I wiped them away with my thumb, tracing over his skin longer than I needed to.

I moved both my arms around his shoulder and he slid his hands up to my back as he shifted himself, sitting up more while I leaned down into him more. He squeezed me tight to him. I nuzzled my head into his neck and he spoke into my ear.

"I love you too." He said in one breath. "So much sometimes that it hurts."

The somersaults and the back flips stopped. Everything stopped. My heart, my breathing, my thoughts.

Then I felt more tears spring from my eyes.

I pulled my head up and kissed him lightly on the cheek. "Rox…"

I shifted away from him and he leaned back into the back of the couch. I reached around my back and took both of his hands, interlacing our fingers, pulling them into my chest as I leaned forward, looking him in the eyes.

His head tilted up. I saw his eyes flutter closed just before mine did the same. Then we kissed. Our lips were parted slightly. It was just a kiss. A soft, sweet kiss that lasted maybe four seconds. When we separated we just looked at each other for a few seconds.

I let go of his hands and got off his lap, guessing that I was probably cutting the circulation of his legs. I sat next to him and propped my head on his shoulder without saying another word. I needed a minute to calm down.

And then my eyes caught something pink on my floor.

I stood up quickly, making Roxas whip his head at me. I felt anger bubbling in me again as I saw the pieces on the floor. I grabbed a random empty, wadded up plastic Wal-Mart bag, opened it up and started tossing the pieces inside it. I felt one of the pieces cut into my skin and I didn't flinch. I kept throwing them in. I heard Roxas stand up. "Axel… we can fix it."

"No. We can't." I tied up the bag and marched over to my garbage can, tossing it in.

He was still standing on the other side of the room, a sad look on his face.

"Sorry, Rox. It's over now. I'm done being emotional. Hi." I smiled a half-smiled while shrugging. It was true. I was done. Episode over. I felt better about a lot of things.

For one…

Were Roxas and I considered lovers now?

For two…

Saix is gone for good.

Roxas chuckled. "Hi."

I looked over at the table and cocked my head. "Oh hey look, McDonald's."

The blonde laughed and trotted over.

"Yeah, I got your fave." He grinned.

He was speaking of, I assumed, a Big Mac and a large fry.

Which he pulled out of the bag and handed to me. "Yay. Thankies!" I exclaimed, dashing over to the microwave.

He chuckled and pulled out his usual chicken-club thing with his own large fry.

And just like that we were back to normal.

"So what'd you get at Wal-Mart?" I asked as I set the setting on the microwave.

"Nothing interesting. Clothes. Crap like that." He said, munching on a cool fry. He plopped himself in a chair, opting to eat his food lukewarm.

Eventually I joined him, munching on my food as if I hadn't eaten in my whole life. I guess being emotional could tire a guy out.

Roxas on the other hand only took a few bites before saying, "I'm gonna eat it later."

"Feel okay?"

He nodded slowly as he tossed his food in the fridge. Maybe he was still freaked out.

I just was weird with certain things, and I hated lingering on one moment for too long. Which was why I hadn't mentioned my brother in the past few days.

"Yeah. Fine." He grinned a huge grin at me from where he stood in front of the fridge.

I neglected my food that was almost gone anyways and stood up. I glided over to Roxie and put my hands on his hips. I rested my forehead on his. "You sure?" I questioned.

"Mhmm." He hummed.

And then I attacked him with my tickle torture, making a laugh escape from him.

* * *

The rest of the night we just acted as usual - talking, playing video games, Roxie typed on his little laptop while I showered and re-styled my hair to perfection… I even got him to eat the rest of his food eventually. We were suddenly at perfect ease with each other. I could feel the shift in our relationship. It's amazing what three little words can do. I no longer felt nervous about doing something stupid.

At the end of the night - it was around eleven-thirty. We had work in the morning. The two of us just laid there - talking. We talked about stupid things, random things. Sometimes the littlest thing could remind Roxas of his parents and he would suddenly go quiet and seem lost in his own world for a second. But that night he seemed okay.

And when I woke up the next morning to an annoying alarm clock, I realized he didn't even wake up and cry in the middle of the night.

* * *

**Woo. Three-quarters of the way done! :P**

**Still a bit more to go guys. Bare with me! And review!**

**Thanks to:**

Naive-Symphony, The Foolish Author, Blood As Soft As Silk, Rachexa Chim, AliceWillbeAlice, , AxelAnimeYaoi96, DarkAngelGrl22567, FoxYaoi123, ., Valinda Blade, Sammy-Dee, SarahXxUnlovedXx, Kakanarufangirl1111

**xox Rose**


	11. Eleven: Roxas

**Sorry that this took me so long to update, my lovelies. I changed this chapter like 93833373737 times before it came to be this. It's pretty hawt, but no where near as hawt as next chapter will be. Is this Rated T? If it is - I hope you all can handle the SEXY TIHMZ in the next chapter. Bwahahah. Part of way I changed most of this was because I wanted the SEXY TIHMZ to be in Axel's point of view. -giggle-**

**Sorry if this chapter has errors. I didn't go back and edit it. By the way - I'm listening to Lady Gaga's The Fame Monster album. So it inspired the sexy-ness. And I will listen to it while I write up the next chapter as well. MMWAAAHHAHA. **

**Enjoy. Review.  
**

* * *

**The Promises of Summer**

**Chapter Eleven: Roxas**

Oh.

My.

God.

Everything from the night before… it was like a dream. I woke up in the morning and I couldn't stop smiling. My heart was doing a constant victory dance. I couldn't the remember another time when I'd felt so happy, so complete, so perfect. I was feeling so optimistic about everything. Even as that annoying alarm clock went off I was grinning to myself. As I watched Axel rub his eyes lazily and stretch it didn't go away.

My red-headed boyfriend leaned over me to attack the clock until he shut it off. He yawned. "Hi baby." His eyes were barely open. But he gave me a warm smile.

A few strands of hair were stuck to his face. I reached up and pushed them away. "Hey." My grin never fading. I leaned up and gave him a little kiss on the lips that he immediately returned.

And I could have stayed there with him all day, but I knew we had work.

Throughout the day I couldn't stop replaying the night before in my head. From the second I walked in the door and felt my heart break and implode at the sight of Saix on top of Axel - to the second we were in his bed and I was moments away from falling asleep.

I never wanted to see Axel break down again, though. His sobs were heart-wrenching and I might as well have taken a power drill and just started drilling into my chest. The physical pain would have been preferable.

And when he told me he loved me - while his face was puffy and red and shiny from tears, I felt everything in my body just stop working. I thought I was dreaming. I thought Ashton Kutcher would pop out any minute, "You just got Punk'd!" And Saix would have came back through the door, laughing - and Axel would grin wickedly, and I'd just smile and laugh along with them. "Oh snap, you got me."

But Ashton never appeared, Saix never came back in, and Axel just kept talking. And soon I felt myself starting to cry a little too, gushing out my own words that should have been said a while ago.

And then, just because Axel was Axel, he started acting like it was any other night. But I wondered if he was going insane and having happy-heart dances like I was, and just acting casual as ever for sake of him and his fear of being too emotional. Which he failed at, because deep down I knew that Axel was _very_ emotional. And he felt comfortable enough with me to let me see that side of him.

And the heart - the heart that was his mother's. I'm sure he was so completely devastated to get it back and then have it be destroyed in front of his face - though he didn't say it. I decided I was going to fix it if it was the last thing I did. I would figure out something. I would _have_ to figure out something, because if he saw me pulling it out of his trash can - he would obviously stop and complain and tell me it wasn't worth it. I'd have to be sneaky.

* * *

A few weeks went by. Sora and I were doing okay with everything. He loved being with Riku and I loved being with Axel - so it helped. We didn't burst into tears over Mom and Dad much anymore. I had my moments where I'd feel a huge surge of guilt and self-pity, but I'd think about Axel and it went away. I'm sure the same thing happened with Sora, but I never asked because I just didn't want to bring our parents up if I could help it.

The red-head and I became sort of joined at the hip. We weren't apart for a second. If we were in two different places we usually made sure we were at least texting each other, if we couldn't be on the phone. Everyone thought it was just gonna make us get bored of each other faster but I couldn't get enough of him.

Things were getting better for Axel, too. I helped him pay the bills, beyond his constant protests. So he didn't have to worry about being behind anymore like he did with his brother who didn't make much money at all when he was here. Reno never called Axel back - or if he did, Axel didn't tell me about it - so I wasn't sure what was going to happen with the whole 'jail' situation - but Axel didn't seem to be worrying about it. Although he could have very well been, and just hiding as usual. But I didn't want to ask.

When we hung out with the whole gang a few times - Xion and Hayner didn't start anything, which made me relieved. I didn't really talk, but I was civil with them. So at least I knew I wouldn't have to worry about them that Summer.

And Demyx and Zexion seemed to actually be staying together. It was quite shocking, really. Demyx usually had trouble with keeping a boyfriend. They tended to go insane and run away before a week was up.

And work was just usual work. We always had more customers over the Summer because of all the kids playing video games over vacation, beating more than one game a week. It was crazy. Axel and I had to work overtime a few nights, and therefore got lets of extra money.

Sora called me every day and asked if me and Axel had 'done anything' yet. He was always surprised when I answered no. Then he'd say something like, "I can't believe Axel is lasting so long." I'd always just laugh.

I was a little shocked myself that he didn't make any moves. But I didn't really _care_. To be honest I was a bit nervous to do anything with him - as attracted to him as I was. He had been with highly experienced sluts that I just could not compare to. I wasn't a virgin, but technically I _was_. Having sex with a guy was a completely different thing. I'd never done much with Hayner.

But overall, I was happy those few weeks…

And then _wham_ - it was the Fourth of July.

The whole gang was hanging out at a huge local park _filled_ with our entire city population and then some. They had fireworks being shot off here every year. It was a big deal. And if you missed it, well, actually no one ever missed it.

Axel, me, Sora, Riku, Kairi, Namine, Demyx, Zexion, Cloud, Leon, Xion, and Hayner piled together on the grass under a ridiculously huge tree. My boyfriend was the one to claim the tree as his back rest and dragged me into his lap. Kairi, Namine, and Xion spread out on their stomachs next to each other and picked at the grass while Cloud and Leon sat cross-legged in front of them, and next to those two was Demyx, Zexion, and Hayner just kneeling - ready to jump up any minute. Next to Axel and I was Riku and Sora. Riku was sitting and leaning back on his hands - his legs thrown out in front of him. Sora was laying down with his head on Riku's thigh and Riku was playing with one of Sora's spikes.

Axel had his head on my shoulder and his hair was tickling my face.

It was already dark out. We had all spent the day eating overly priced junk food, walking around and talking to people we knew, just hanging out. Now we were waiting for the fireworks to start.

"God, is it nine yet?" Demyx whined. That was when the show started.

"Nope. Eight-forty." Leon answered in monotone.

"Twenty more freakin minutes?" Mullet-Brain sighed dramatically. I saw Zexion roll his eyes at him and I tried not to laugh.

"I gotta go to my car really quick." I said suddenly, making a quick decision.

"For what?" Axel asked me.

"Nothing important." I stood up and brushed off my pants.

My boyfriend stood up after me.

"Axe, you can stay I'll be right back." I told him with a smile.

He pouted.

"Yeah, Axel, geez… it's not gonna kill you to be separated for - God forbid - five minutes!" My brother teased him. I chuckled as Axel plopped back down in front of the tree, defeated.

I weaved through the large crowds just to get to the parking lot where I had to weave through even more people and cars and try to spot my Kenny out.

I eventually found him, heading straight for the trunk.

* * *

My journey back to the tree was even harder, since I now had a solid, dense object shoved into my back pocket.

"Get lost?" Demyx asked me before gesturing to Axel. "If you didn't show up in another second I think Axel was gonna hire a search tea-"

"Would you shut that thing you call a face?" The red-head snapped, but didn't mean it - an icy glare thrown at Demyx before turning and grinning at me.

I plopped down right next to Axel this time instead of in his lap. The object in my pocket sent a sharp pain through me but I bit down any complaints. I just had to make it through a few minutes.

I felt like I was making it obvious that I was hiding something, but no one seemed to notice. The red head rested his hand on my thigh. I relaxed and just waited for the fireworks to start like everyone else.

After a bit of random conversation, we suddenly heard a boom and then silence. The whole park stopped talking in unison. The silence was followed by a crackle - and we immediately saw thousands of bright lights above our heads.

The first firework of the night.

I could hear quite a few people cheering and laughing. The band that was pretty far away from us started playing God Bless America. I personally thought patriotic music was annoying. I only liked July fourth because of the fireworks.

Another boom, more cheering, and this time the firework was much larger and much more beautiful. Blues and whites everywhere. I saw Demyx suddenly lean over and give Zexion a kiss on the mouth. I saw the emo kid return the kiss - and then when they parted he actually smiled.

I looked out of the corner of my eye. Axel was looking at the sky with a dreamy expression on his face. When the third firework went up and exploded I saw the lights reflecting in Axel's eyes and lighting up his face.

He turned to me, I was caught in the act of staring. "What?" He asked.

"Nothing." I smiled.

The red-head smiled back then turned his attention toward the sky again.

I decided it was a good time to pull out what I was still sitting on. No one was paying attention to us - just to the sky.

I lifted myself up a bit, causing Axel to turn to me and raise his eyebrow. I slid my hand behind me to reach into the pocket, feeling the cool, solid object on my fingers.

"Close your eyes." I ordered him.

Instead of closing them, he narrowed them at me. "Whyyy?"

"Because I said to." I batted my eyelashes.

After a bit of a hesitation, he did. I waved my free hand in front of his eyes and didn't flinch. "Now hold out your hand."

"What?" I saw his eyebrows knit in confusion, but his eyes stayed shut. Another firework went off and his face lit up again. I heard the girls talking about how gorgeous it was - not his face, the fireworks.

"Just do it."

So Axel lifted the hand that had been on my leg, turning it palm-side up. I was now holding the solid object firmly in front of me. With my free hand I grabbed Axel's wrist and guided my other hand to it. I placed the object in his hand but kept my hand over it. I was looking at his face the whole time.

His eyes shot open. His gaze went from my face to our hands. A look of shock and hope surging in his eyes that got lit up but yet another couple of fireworks that were shot off together.

"Riku did you see that one?!" Sora sounded so excited. Like a little kid seeing fireworks for the first time.

I glanced at them and Riku was just looking at Sora even though Sora was completely enchanted by the light show. "Mhm." I heard Riku say. "Beautiful."

I looked back at Axel. I lifted my hand off the object. "I tried." I said.

"R-" He blinked. "How-" He blinked again.

I watched him as he held the heart closer to his face to get a better look. More fireworks went off. He ran his thumb over a few of the cracks. It really wasn't that hard to fix. A little 3D jigsaw puzzle I guess. The pieces weren't ridiculously small. It did take a bit of work though. I would slip time in whenever I could - which was tricky with Axel always being around.

Hot glue worked wonders.

Axel looked at me, his eyes looked watery. "Come here." He said quietly as he put the heart into his right hand and grabbed at my waist with his left - trying to pull me into his lap.

I complied, crawling into his lap. His head immediately rested his head on my shoulder, and slid his arms around my waist. I felt him still clutching the heart in his right hand and it pressed into me.

I looked up at the sky.

His spoke just above a whisper. "Roxas…" A pause. "You don't know how much this means to me."

I felt a blush forming on my cheeks. Then I turned my head, my lips brushed against his cheek. "Look at them. Aren't they beautiful?" I was talking about the fireworks that were coming constantly now. All different colors and sizes. Constant bangs and booms and crackles.

My boyfriend looked up. "Yeah." He said quietly in agreement.

I turned my head some more, my lips brushing against his skin still, until I reached his ear. "I love you." I whispered slowly before giving him a kiss on his cheek. I felt him shudder and I smiled to myself before placing my hands over his and facing the sky again. I relaxed into him.

We just stayed like that for a bit and were absorbed in the lights and sounds.

Just before the finale though, I felt lips on my neck. Then hushed words. "I love you more."

"Oh, really?" I whispered back sarcastically.

"Yep." He just looked at me and then kissed me on the mouth roughly, his tongue entering. I let out a little moan of surprise, but I don't think he heard it because there was a bunch of fireworks going off at once. It was loud and as I closed my eyes and deepened the kiss, I could still see the flashing.

I suddenly heard Kairi cat call. "Look at the newlyweds." She teased. I broke apart from Axel and he just immediately went to my neck. Kairi wiggled her eyebrows at me and I blushed again. Everyone else had started looking at us because of Kairi's outburst and I felt my face heating up. Axel didn't care and I could feel him leaving a hickey on my neck.

I tried keeping my expression normal but it was hard. I had to give it everything not to turn my head to give him more access, and not to make any noises, or do any other animal-like things. I wanted to shove him off instead of risking more embarrassment but I didn't move.

"Let them be, guys." Spoke my brother. I could barely hear him behind the fireworks. Everyone looked Sora's way and then smirked, facing the sky once more. The finale was dying down.

_Sora, thank you, I love you, my amazing brother._ I wanted to shout at him but I was still under attack from Axel's lips, and I was melting like putty in his arms.

"Mmm…" A little noise escaped him, he was kissing my collar bone now. I was trying not to have a panic attack. I traced my fingers over his knuckles just to focus on something.

The park filled with simultaneous, "Awwww." Disappointed that the fireworks ended, but it was followed by applause because the show was good. The band in the background had died out, and people were starting to pack up.

Axel's teeth grazed against my collar bone and I squeaked out an, "Ow!" In surprise.

My boyfriend laughed at me. "Sorry."

I pouted at him. "That hurrrt." I wasn't really serious. I was just messing with him.

"Aw, my poor baby." He said sarcastically. I stuck my tongue out at him. Then he started tickling me. I jumped up, dragging him up as well.

"Help! Abuse!" I laughed as I squirmed out of Axel's grasp and ran over to Sora and Riku, who were standing up now too.

Instead of letting me hide behind them, they each grabbed one of my arms. "What the hell?" I was laughing still. And Sora and Riku had on big grins.

"Axel, I think they want you to 'cuff 'im." Demyx grinned a lopsided grin as he noticed the little scene we were making.

"Ooh baby." Kairi giggled. "A lot of odd images just rushed into my head of a handcuffed Roxas, and Axel in a police uniform for some reason."

"Ew." Xion blinked, traumatized.

Everyone around them laughed.

Then everyone except me, Axel, Sora, and Riku started singing the theme song from Cops. Even Hayner - who hadn't talked to anyone the whole night as far as I saw. Him, Demyx, and Zexion were doing a screamo version.

_Bad boys, bad boys - whatcha gonna do? Whatcha gonna do when they come for you?_

Everyone was singing horrible and out of key. It was hilarious. But I was still being held by the arms.

"Well done, sidekicks." Axel saluted Sora and Riku. I saw him shove the heart into his huge hoodie pocket. I don't even know how he could wear a hoodie - but I know Axel loved being as warm as he could. So I guess wearing a hoodie on a Summer night wasn't that weird for him.

"Our pleasure." Riku snorted.

"Nooo." I whined, trying to struggle away.

Then Axel pounced and started tickling me again, but my arms were tightly secured by my brother and his play thing.

"Cheating! Cheating!" I repeated through bursts of laughter.

Then they dropped me on the ground simultaneously. "OW!" I said seriously that time, it came out choked since I got the wind knocked out of me.

Axel ended up falling on me.

"You guys fail." He shouted to Sora and Riku, as he lifted himself up.

Sora and Riku just laughed - running away quickly because they knew he'd hit them.

The redhead just sighed and shook his head at the idiots who were running straight into a crowd of people as he offered me a hand to get up. As soon as I grabbed hold of it, he had me pulled in to his chest, flinging his arms around me and squeezing me so close to him I was sure I was going to stop breathing.

"Axelll." I whined, squirming. I could feel the heart in his pocket pressing into me.

"Then be a good boy and don't run away." He loosened his grip and smiled at me.

"I won't run away if you don't tickle me." I countered.

"Oh, c'mon, you know you like it." The red-head grinned at me, but didn't seem to expect an answer. He turned toward Sora and Riku who were now coming back. They each had cotton candy in their hands. Everyone else was just standing around talking.

"You guys got cotton candy without us? Asswipes." Kairi complained, dragging Kairi in the direction Sora and Riku just got back from. "Where was it."

My brother bit of a huge piece of the fluffy sugar. "Just keep going straight. They're packing up so it's fifty percent off."

"Sweet!" The redhead and the blonde screeched. "Xion, c'mon. You want some too, don't you?" The three girls ran off.

"Should they really have more sugar?" Leon put two fingers on his right temple and closed his eyes.

"What, they too hyper for you?" Riku asked amusedly.

"Just a bit." Replied Leon.

"All three of them aren't as bad as your damn little sister." Cloud commented.

"True."

Leon had a little sister named Yuffie. I'd met her a few times - she went to our school - but hung out with a different crowd.

Hayner yawned, seeming bored.

"So you guys wanna go out to Pizza Hut or something?" Demyx grinned. "I'm sure the girls'd love to."

"Yeah! I want pizza!" Sora grinned, finishing off his cotton candy.

"Sure, why not?" Riku was still working on his.

Zexion nodded. "Whatever you want, Dem." I realized he was holding hands with Demyx; their fingers entwined. They made a pretty cute couple, against the odds.

Hayner, Cloud, and Leon also agreed.

I was about to agree too - but a certain boyfriend of mine surprised me.

"I'm kinda tired." He said.

_Tired? Since when are _you _freaking ti---_

_Oh no._

Oh God. Axel wanted to take it to the next level. Ah fuck.

Everyone knows what it means when a significant other says, "I'm tired." When they could very well be doing fun things with friends. It doesn't mean they want to go back to their apartment and sleep. It means they want to go back to their apartment and do anything _but _sleep.

All eyes on me, expectant. I saw a little half-smile on Demyx's face. Sora's eyes were a bit too big. Fuck, fuck, fuck. They were all onto it as well.

I had two choices. Play innocent. Or just say, "Oh, I'm tired too. Sorry guys." Which I knew would elicit a bunch of looks between everyone.

I weighed my options.

Maybe Axel really _was_ just tired?

Yeah, right.

I realized I was hesitating too much. It had been a minute and I still had said nothing. I opened my mouth.

"Roxas is tired too." Axel decided for me, slinging his arm around my shoulders and steering me towards the drinks.

There was a great deal less people out, but there were still several just hanging. My face felt hot, and I was sure I was blushing. I was grateful for the darkness.

I heard a snicker from (I assumed) Demyx behind me as we got farther away from them.

"You know…" Axel was talking low in my ear. "I'm not even the _least_ bit tired, baby."

I froze, but kept my composure. My legs kept moving even though I swear my hair was standing on end. I swallowed, then spoke calmly - going with the innocence. "Oh. So you _do_ want to go have pizza?"

Shit. My voice had faultered.

Axel chuckled low in my ear. "No."

"Oh." My voice went up an octave. "Why?" _God._

_What am I so afraid of?_ I wondered.

Axel slid his hand that was around my shoulder slowly down my back as we walked, until it was in my back pocket, and he gently squeezed my butt.

I yelped.

The red-head chuckled again. I felt my face _burning_. It was a wonder the skin didn't start melting off.

"Because I just want to go home and spend some time with you." He whispered in my ear, leaving a little kiss on my neck.

My breathing hitched.

But I could barely even breathe. He quickly guided me to a dark, deserted space between two trees across from the little cart that sold 'Ice Cold Drinks' - which happened to be almost packed up.

He grabbed onto my hips with both his hands, taking the one that had previously been in my right back pocket out, before pushing me up against one of the trees.

He leaned down and kissed me so lightly that I'd call it more of a 'brief touching of lips' than an actual kiss. Then his lips lingered just centimeters away from mine as he pressed his body as close as possible against mine. I felt the solid heart in his pocket jabbing me again.

His hands slid slowly - _so _slowly - from my hips all the way up to cup my face and force me to look at him. "Roxie…" He whispered, closing the space between us with a kiss. His fingers slid into my hair and pulled my head closer, his tongue sliding into my mouth. I couldn't stifle my slight moan that just egged him on, causing him to pull me even closer if that were possible. The solid heart in his pocket was actually beginning to hurt me, but I said nothing.

My hands went up to his chest, clutching on his hoodie. We kissed for what I guessed was a good five minutes. When we broke apart we were both panting.

"Roxie…" He said again, in a pant. "I love you…" He caught his breath. "I love you and I want you more than you could even begin to understand…" Axel sighed. An amused chuckle escaped him. He whispered, "If we went home…" He wet his lips. "Would you let me make love to you?"

_Jesus, Axel…_ I said to him sarcastically in my mind. _Be more straightforward next time. _

I swallowed. I had never felt so nervous in my entire life. Never.

Then I looked at the situation better. Maybe Axel was nervous, too. Maybe that was how he dealt with being nervous - being frighteningly straight forward.

I decided I'd try it out.

I was still clutching the front of his hoodie, I pulled him down a little and stood on the tips of my toes so I could reach his ear. "You don't have to ask." I whispered. "You can have me whenever you want. I'm yours."

Axel let out a very long, light breath through his mouth. I felt it on my cheek just before I moved away from his ear so I could look at his face.

I saw him searching mine for a minute. Then our eyes locked, and not a second went by before my boyfriend tugged me in to a deep, crushing kiss.

"Ahem." I heard a girl clear her throat. "Found them!" She shouted. I recognized the voice. Kairi.

She giggled.

"We thought you guys got kidnapped." The burgundy-haired girl winked at us. Namine came skipping up beside her.

"Oh there you guys are!" The blonde grinned.

"Yeah, they were just making out against a tree. Nothing surprising." Kairi twirled a strand of hair around her finger.

My face felt hot.

"Shall we just leave you here and tell them you went home?" Grinned Kairi mischievously.

My boyfriend nodded. "You could do that… we were just leaving _anyway_."

Axel started grabbed at my wrist, tugging me behind him.

"Have fun you two." Namine waved. Kairi waggled her eyebrows.

My red-headed boyfriend gave them a charming wink before pulling me closer to him and shoving his hand in my back pocket again. This time I held in my squeal. Then he lead me to the parking lot where Kenny, our chariot, was waiting ever so patiently.

"I'm driving." The red-head decided, sliding his hound out of my back pocket and sneaking it into the front to pluck out my keys.

"Don't hurt him." I warned.

"Oh don't worry, Kitty, you can trust me. You just drive too slow; and I'm feeling rather impatient." A Cheshire Cat grin slid onto his features.

I sighed and braced myself. It was going to be one hell of a night. I somehow made my way into the passenger side seat of Kenny without passing out.

* * *

**Whew. Another RIDICULOUSLY long chapter for you lovely things. I want to say THANK YOU to EVERYONE who has favorite/alert...ed (HAHA) this story! Got so much feedback and I'm really glad you all are enjoying it. I've gotten such wonderful comments and it makes me so happy. Thank you. Don't stop reviewing. Every little comment makes me smile. (:**

**A BIG THANKS TO: **Naive-Symphony, The Foolish Author, Blood as Soft as Silk, Rachexa Chim, AliceWillBeAlice, , AxelAnimeYaoi96, DarkAngelGrl22567, FoxYaoi123, ., Valinda Blade, Sammy-Dee, SarahXxUnlovedXx, KakaNarufangirl111, Forever-Waiting-Here, ForeverYaoix3, Vanilla Twilight, TheUltimateCoolestPersonEver, Tsukia13, Sunset-of-Youthfulness, His Last Walk **(I really think I missed some people. Sorry if I did. Just lemme know. I'm a spazz.)**

**Whoo. Working on two stories is rough. Especially with the long chapters I post. Anyways... TOODLES. **

**xox Rose  
**


	12. Twelve: Axel

**Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you: the shortest chapter in the story. God. I fail at life. I am a disappointment. I don't update for like EVER and then I give you a short filler chapter. Haha. **

**NOTE: The reason why I didn't put detail in their sex was because this is rated T, and I just didn't feel this story needed a lemon. Use your imagination, guys. (;**

**I love you my lovely reviewers. I do. Almost at a hundred reviews. Woohoo. A big thanks to all of you: **

Naive-Symphony, The Foolish Author, Blood As Soft As Silk, Rachexa Chim, AliceWillBeAlice, , AxelAnimeYaoi96, DarkAngelGrl22567, FoxYaoi123, ., Valinda Blade, Sammy-Dee, SarahXxUnlovedXx, KakaNarufangirl111, Forever-Waiting-Here, Vanilla Twilight, TheUltimateCoolestPersonEver, Tsukia13, Sunset-of-youthfulness, His Last Walk, BlackCatHikari, Shawpaw12, Love-less emo neko, Riku's Lady, Regidork, and AllSheNeedsisLove.

**I really appreciate every review. I'm so sorry if I missed your name because I tend to do that to at least one person every chapter. SORRY! **

* * *

**The Promises of Summer**

**Chapter Twelve: Axel**

We kicked off our shoes right in front of the door as always. And Roxas peeled his socks off too, but I think he was just nervous and trying to buy as much time as he could. It didn't bother me much, It would be one less thing he'd have to take off in my room. The second I realized he wasn't paying attention to his footwear, I flipped right around to pin him against the door that he had only moments before shut - attacking his mouth with a deep kiss. Apparently I startled him, causing him to let out a little sound of shock that made me just want to… well it made me want to do _so many _things.

While still kissing him, I started steering him towards my room. My little blonde was going with the flow, although I could feel a slight tension coming from him.

I leaned him against my tightly closed bedroom door, and broke the kiss. When I looked into his face, he was biting his bottom lip a bit. There was a slight blush on his cheeks, making him look beyond adorable. He watched me as I quickly reached into the pocket of my sweatshirt and pulled out the glass heart that was mended perfectly. It had become even more special to me. It didn't only symbolize my mother, it symbolized Roxas now. I couldn't get over the fact that he would put all those fragments together just… _because_. It made so… I can't think of any word besides _happy_.

I set the precious item on my entertainment center. When I turned back to Roxas he looked up at me and smiled. When I smiled back, he reached up and locked his arms around my neck. It was all I could do not to just throw him down on the floor right there as I leaned in and began to kiss him once more. Before long our tongues were dueling for dominance, and mine was winning of course. When I felt his hands tugging on the back of my hair, I slid my lips to his neck where I kissed him lightly, eliciting a soft sigh from the blonde.

I reached behind him while still kissing his neck to turn the knob on my bedroom door, making Roxas stagger backwards into my room. He giggled once he realized what just happened.

"Jerk." He said, but I could _hear_ the smile on his face. I couldn't see it. My room was nothing but darkness, and I planned on keeping it that way as I shut the door behind me.

I chuckled. "_Your_ jerk."

"_My _jerk." Roxas agreed just before I grabbed his hips. It was dark but I knew my room well enough to steer my boyfriend towards the bed where I gently pushed him down. He made a little, rather amusing noise of surprise, but I cut it off as I covered his mouth with mine.

I ran one of my hands up and down his side as we kissed. When I happened to open my eyes and look at him again, my eyes had adjusted to the dark and I could faintly see the outlines of his face. He gave me a tiny smile.

When I saw him there - just a dark shape with a painted on smile, I had never felt so complete in all my life. Roxas was my other half. My best friend, my lover, my soul mate… 'being in love with him' was beginning to sound like such an empty term. I wanted everything with him. He _was_ my everything.

"What?" He asked, his voice soft. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"What, I can't look at you?" I smirked.

The blonde let out a little sigh, letting me know I was irritating him. Though he loved it and I knew it.

"You're just so _sexy_, Roxie. I can't _not_ look at you." I cooed, leaning down and starting to kiss his neck lightly.

Roxas let out a little sigh and turned his head to give me more access to his neck. His fingers got lost in my forest of messy hair.

Soon I found my hand sliding up under his shirt. His skin was freakishly soft, very feminine and fragile. I started nipping at his neck, lightly tonguing over the hickey I had left earlier that night. I heard breathy moans escape his lips every time I tugged with my teeth on his delicate flesh above his collar bone. My hand traveled up and down his torso a few times before I started tugging the shirt off all together, he didn't hesitate as he helped me pull it over his head before I tossed it aside lazily.

I moved my lips down to his shoulder and I could tell he was starting to get nervous again. His breath quickened as my fingers toyed with his belt. It was obvious when he cupped my head in one of his hands and pulled me into a kiss; he wanted to distract.

I chuckled against his mouth.

"What?" Roxie mumbled in a whiny voice.

"Don't be so nervous, Kitty."

"Who said I was nervous?"

I laughed and kissed him again, deeply. My tongue collided with his. I started pressing my body against his as things started heating up. My heart was pounding in my ears. It was all I could hear, besides the moans coming from Roxas's mouth and the sighs coming from mine.

After a few minutes of this, I wasn't going to lie and say that I wasn't completely turned on. I started taking off my own shirt and Roxie helped me eagerly.

Our kissing was becoming more and more fervent. My hands were sliding all over him, and his were sliding all over me. I couldn't stifle any noises whenever he grazed over my nipple or lightly scratched his nail over my skin.

I started fiddling with his belt once more as I continued kissing him. I bit his bottom lip gently and he let out a little whimper. It was so sexy I feared I was going to spontaneously combust from the… well, sexiness.

I practically broke his belt taking it off.

"Jesus, Axel." Roxas laughed. "Calm down."

"I can't!" I claimed, loudly and theatrically.

My boyfriend laughed again.

I loved his laugh. I loved _making_ him laugh. I wanted to hear it all the time. I wanted to set it as my ringtone and then call myself over and over just so I could hear it.

Once his belt was off, I tossed it over with the shirts. Then I unbuttoned and unzipped his pants, tugging those completely off as well.

Roxas looked adorable wearing nothing but a blush and his boxers. He sat up and kissed me sweetly; I just wanted to melt.

Roxas could totally pull off being the dominant one if he wished.

We kept kissing and I slyly slid my hand up his thigh, massaging his skin lightly. I kept sliding my hand up until I was kneading him through his boxers, causing him to let out a deep moan from the back of his throat.

I pushed him until he was laying on his back again before I assaulted his neck, leaving kisses and hickeys all over it.

I stopped all my movements suddenly and looked at him.

"What?" He asked, his voice quiet but husky.

When I didn't reply right away he reached up and caressed my face lovingly. I leaned into his hand and smiled.

"You don't know how many times I slept with someone and desperately wished it was you." I mumbled into his hand.

Yeah, I couldn't believe I said that either.

Roxas didn't seem creeped out, pissed, or disgusted though. He actually gave me a tiny smile and ran his thumb over my cheek.

"That sounded less creepy in my head…" I said.

He laughed. "To be honest, I think it's cute." He practically purred.

I rested my head against his chest and he rubbed my back. I wanted him so badly, but I just was too nervous regardless of how I probably seemed to him, and I had to take my time. It wasn't just anyone, it was _Roxas_.

"And I'm yours forever now anyways." He added.

"Forever?" I asked with a smile. I kissed his chest that I was leaning against.

"Forever."

"How much do you mean that?" I quietly asked.

"_Axel_." My boyfriend sounded frustrated.

I looked up at him.

"I can't even stomach the thought of being with anyone besides you. I'm yours. Forever. I promise." The blonde grinned at me.

I blinked then smiled, leaning up to peck him on the lips. "We are _soooo_ cheesey."

Roxas let out a little laugh.

"But I love you." I smiled big and sat up so that I was straddling him again.

Roxie studied me up and down before giving me an amused look. "I love you too."

I rolled my hips against his; he inhaled sharply.

"Do you want me?" I taunted.

Roxas rolled his eyes. "Yes, I want you."

"_Roxieee~_" I whined. "Say it like you mean it."

The blonde huffed and I decided to play it the mean way. I backed up a bit and slid my hand beneath the waist band of his boxers playfully where I began to stroke him.

"Say it, baby." I coaxed.

I stroked him harder.

I saw him stifle a moan. "I want you." He breathed.

I wrapped my hand around him completely and pumped a couple times, enjoying the look on his face. "Really?"

"_Ah_. _Yes_, Axel."

"Then why didn't you say so before? What my kitty wants, my kitty gets." I purred.

He glared daggers at me for a moment, but soon we were getting rid of our leftover clothes like they were infected and disease-infested.

We also began kissing like our lives depended on it, and from there it was just a blurry haze of pleasure. All I could remember was Roxas and his touch and his sounds.

* * *

So now I knew what making love was like. It was so much different than just _fucking_.

My heart was thudding in my ears as I laid back against the pillow. I was still trying to catch my breath.

My kitty was laying on his side, his head on my shoulder. He was taking erratic breaths and his cheeks were flushed; his hair was a slight mess and there was a light sheen of sweat on his face. He was beautiful.

Roxas grabbed my right hand and stroked it gently. It reminded me of the night I asked him out. There was still a bit of a scar from me abusing my poor wall. The wall was still scarred too.

He brought my hand up to his lips and kissed each of my knuckles gently, like he did that night. I swooned.

I pulled my hand away from the mercy of his lips and starting running my fingers through his hair. "I love you, Roxas." I whispered.

My boyfriend smiled sweetly at me, kissing my shoulder before snuggling into me. "I love you too, Axe." He whispered back.

If I died right then, I totally wouldn't have minded.

We sat there quietly, with me just stroking his hair for the longest time. I felt myself dozing off so I decided to pull the sheet up over us. I turned to my side so I could face Roxas. He smiled at me sleepily.

I stroked his cheek and kissed him on the forehead. He sighed happily before letting his eyes close. I wrapped my arms around him, pulling him against me and found myself easily falling asleep.

* * *

I woke up from the sunlight through the window hitting my eyelids. I rolled away from it and realized Roxas wasn't in bed. All that was there was some crumpled sheets and a dented pillow.

I sighed as I looked at the clock. Seven-thirty. I could faintly hear the shower running from the other room. So _that_ was where he was. I wondered why he had gotten up so early.

I closed my eyes and smiled to myself as I thought about the night of my Fourth of July. I'd never forget it. Not in a million years.

_Baby, take me on a journey. I've been thinking lately, I could use a little time al-_

Fucking Jesse McCartney.

I leaned over the bed to wear Roxas's pants had ended up. I reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell. The caller-ID read "Sora".

_Please don't take your time. You got me right where you-_

"Roxas is unable to come to the phone right now, can I please take a message?" I answered in a mock-robot voice.

"Axel?" My boyfriend's brother's voice broke.

"What _other_ guy would answer his phone?"

"Good point." Sora said. "Where is he?"

"He's just in the shower. He can call you back in like ten minutes or whatever." I leaned back on the bed, holding the phone against my ear.

"Nah, never mind. That's okay." He said.

"Uh… you just casually decided to call at seven-thirty in the morning?" I asked skeptically.

"Yes." He sounded serious. "I was bored. So did you two uh, sleep well? You _were_ tired and all…"

I smirked into the phone. So Sora had called to pester Roxas about _that_. I said nothing because I was trying to think of something witty.

"You guys… didn't you?" Giggled Sora.

"Hmm. Why? You want all the little juicy details? Well first I--"

"NYEH. No! Hello, I'm his _brother_. But _I KNEW IT_!!"

I chuckled. "Can I let you go now, then? It's way too early in the mor-"

"No. Axel, I'm actually glad you answered the phone." His loud voice had quieted down a bit.

"Hmm?"

"Roxas is all I have left. I'm more protective of him than I ever was. I need your word that you won't hurt him." His voice was almost threatening.

"Never." I said quickly, truthfully. It wasn't an answer I had to think about. "I'd never hurt him. I'd rather die than hurt him." I swallowed.

"…Wow. Sounds like you really love him." Sora sounded a little surprised.

"I do. More than anything." I replied.

"Did Roxas ever tell you that our parents always wanted you guys to hook up?" Roxas's brother paused. "They used to joke around with Roxas about wedding plans and stuff. His face used to go all red, then he'd just laugh it off. But they seriously wanted it to happen someday."

I blinked and stared at the ceiling. I felt a pang of sadness. For Sora. For Roxas. I heard the shower shut off in the other room. My boyfriend would be coming back in a minute. "No…" I said quietly. "He never told me that."

His parents had always loved me. They were the closest things I had ever really had to parents. The idea of actually getting married to Roxas sounded so distant and weird, but I could have totally seen myself being happy to be someone's son-in-law. I wish my mum was still around. I would have loved for her to meet Roxie.

Sora let out a chuckle. "Well now you know. I'm gonna hang up now. Riku's up."

"Roxas can talk in a sec, if you still want to talk to him." I suggested.

"Nah. I'm good. Bye Axel." Then I heard a click.

I set Roxas's phone next to the digital clock on my nightstand. I sighed.

At that moment, Roxas practically _skipped_ into the room. He looked happy and bright and glowing. His hair was still a bit damp from the shower. He was wearing black skinnies and a white t-shirt with black music notes on it. He looked good as always.

When my boyfriend saw I was awake he grinned at me. "Morning, Axe!"

"Morning, Babe." I grinned back. He brightened up my room.

Roxie flopped onto the bed horizontally, laying on his stomach. He rested his head on _my _stomach and looked at me with a little sad smile. "Are you okay?"

God, now the guy could even detect the slightest sadness in me.

I grinned again. "I'm perfect." I reached out and pushed some of his wet hair out of his face.

"Good." The blonde smiled sweetly at me. Every day I fall in love with him a little more.

"Sora called." I told him.

"What did he want?" Roxie asked me.

"Didn't say. Nothing important I don't think."

"Oh. K, thanks. I'll call him later…"

After a minute of just sitting there quietly, my boyfriend sat up and then leaned down to give me a kiss. When we parted, I smirked at him. "I should probably get dressed." I said. He laughed.

* * *

It was Sunday. Our day off. We had just ate junk food and played video games all day. Two of my most favorite hobbies - and they were so much more fun when Roxas was with me. I felt like we had just woken up, but it was already six at night.

"Hey, Axe?" Spoke up the blonde next to me on the couch. His eyes were focused on Mario Kart.

"Hmm?" I was winning. Again.

"Wanna go down to that spot again? We haven't gone back yet."

I paused the game and looked at him. "That sounds like a great idea to me, Kitty."

He was right. We hadn't been to our secret spot since the night his parents died.

He smiled. I un-paused the game so we could finish our round. He caught up pretty well (damn those red shells) and ended up beating me.

"C'mon! Let's go!" My boyfriend stood up, shutting off the TV with a smile.

I grinned at him and before we left I took another look at the mended pink glass heart. It reminded myself once again how happy I was beyond everything else. And I wondered if Roxas was just as happy as I was.

* * *

**Whewwww. Why did that take me so long if it's so short and lame? I'm failing at writing lately. I blame school. Now, the next thing I'll be updating is Vulnerable which is my other Axel/Roxas fic. I'm just stating that because I'm getting yelled at to update it. I will do it! Haven't had the chance yet! Haha. **

**The review button needs some love. This story wouldn't be still going without his help. ;)**

**Till chapter thirteen!**

**xox Rose  
**


	13. Thirteen: Roxas

**Holy crap! How long has it been since I updated? Months, anyway. But I'm here. As promised (and you know how I am with promises... ;D) And this story WILL. BE. FINISHED.**

**Thanks to all of the wonderful reviewers. I'm too lazy to list everyone's names. But thank you. Thank you. Thank you. THANK YOU! **

**So yeah... I've been busy. Finishing up Junior year, writing Vulnerable, a Summer job, job training classes, and PortCon (which ended up being AMAZING. My Roxas cosplay was a good success. Woo. If you wanna know what it looked like my DeviantArt is RoseRiku.) :D**

**Anyway... please review and enjoy the new DRAMA-FILLED chapter. (;  
**

**DISCLAIMER:**** I don't own anything in this story besides Slip and the plot. All the characters and their personalities belong to Square Enix. Tetsuya Nomura is God. Bow down to him.**

* * *

**The Promises of Summer**

**Chapter Thirteen: Roxas**

"Hey, you know, I'm kinda hungry. Are you? Maybe we should stop and grab some food first." My boyfriend suggested just as I was pulling out of the driveway.

"Heh. Not that we haven't had enough junk food today, but sure." I told him with a smile.

I sighed with contentment and rolled down my window, letting the warm breeze come in. I thought about how Summer vacation would be over in just another month. I was sure there'd be people treating me differently once rumors went around about how I had become an orphan. God, I didn't want to think about it.

I sighed again but not with contentment. Definitely did not want to think about it.

"Something wrong, love?" Axel asked with concern. He massaged the back of my neck as I drove. It was becoming a habit for him. Thankfully, it soothed me.

"I just… can't believe how much has changed." I said. "And how much has happened. I mean…" I shook my head. "I'm happy that you told me about your spot, and I'm happy that I'm staying with you now… I'm happy that I'm _with _you now… I just… wish…"

"It all happened a different way?" His hand still rubbed perfectly against the nape of my neck.

"…Yeah." I answered near silently. "I still have this undying want to just… go home. But I can't."

Axel didn't say anything. I felt bad for bringing this stuff up. I'm sure it made him think of his _own_ parents and _his_ old house. But I hadn't given myself enough time to recover. Saying I could just push it all away was one thing, but living with it was much too complicated. There was an aching emptiness inside of me that even Axel couldn't fill.

"Not that I don't like living with you. I just… I mean…" I sighed. Again.

"I know, Rox."

"And your brother… why did everything have to happen at once?"

"I don't know…"

His words were spoken in soft, subdued tones. I felt a pang of guilt. We'd been having such a good day. But it was killing me not talking about all the stuff that I couldn't stop thinking about.

"So he's only in for a year you said? I thought it was three years for selling that kind of stuff to a minor."

"Well, I don't know the details. We didn't really get that far. But he said a year. He hasn't called back. I could care less." I watched my boyfriend out of the corner of my eye as he slipped his hand away from my neck and folded his arms. He lifted one of his hands and nibbled nervously on his fingernails. "He's dead to me."

"He's all the family you've got left, Axe. Maybe he needs you."

"He's dead to me, Roxas." He repeated a bit angrily. "He's a screw up. All I need is you anyway. So where are we going to eat?"

"Axel… not talking about this stuff is making me sick. Why do we keep acting like not a damn thing's wro-"

"What is there to talk about? The fact that we have no fucking control over anything?" He mumbled against his fingernails. He had a point, I had to admit. Things were getting better and there was nothing I could do about my parents or his brother. Nothing he could do either. We just had to make do with what was what.

"I'm worried about Sora, too." I told him.

"Riku's taking care of him. He's okay." He assured me.

I didn't know where I was going yet and I took a random left turn.

"I know but…" I sighed for the third time since I'd gotten in the car. "I just wish things could go back to before. We're getting by now, but what about later?"

"Rox, you can still graduate and go to college. None of that's changed. Sure, you don't have all the work you've done but you can still make a decent portfolio within a year. You'll do fine."

"It's different though. It almost seems pointless. My parents were behind me through everything. I wanted them to be proud of me… now they're not even here." I stopped at a red light. "I miss them."

"Oh, Love, I know you do. I miss my parents too." He patted my leg. "I tell you this all the time but my mom would have _loved_ you." He chuckled.

"I bet she was pretty."

"She was."

After another random turn I decided enough was enough. "I don't have much of an appetite anymore."

"I don't either." He rested his hand on my leg.

"So you wanna just go to the spot?" I asked.

He nodded and I turned the car around.

"Wait. Wanna get some cherry cokes to take with us?" He sounded hopeful.

I giggled a little. "Sure."

As we went to Quickee and then hit the highway to go to the spot, I noticed in the back of my mind that a car was following us. But I didn't think much of it.

When we finally got there we headed into the dark, grassy field holding hands and sipping our cokes. It wasn't too hot out because of the nice, steady breeze.

"Mm, I love the fireflies. They're so pretty." I smiled into my straw when I saw them.

"They are. When I was younger I'd bring a jar and catch them." He chuckled.

I smiled at him. "I really love this place…"

"I've always loved it, but I love it better having you here." Axel gave my hand a quick squeeze.

I leaned against his arm as we wandered around the large grassy area, we kept our fingers laced. I felt extremely relaxed, more so than I had in a while.

"You know what?" I asked, biting my lip to prevent a smile.

"Hmm?"

"I can't stop thinking about last night." I laughed and felt myself blush a bit.

Axel let out a husky chuckle. "We'll have to do it again sometime. Maybe tonight?" He raised his eyebrows at me and smirked.

I laughed again and shoved him playfully with my shoulder.

"You just have to promise me you'll blush just as madly." He giggled. "It was dark and yet I know your face was redder than my hair."

"Shuttup." I held in my giggle.

"In fact, if my hypothesis is correct. I bet it is _now _too!" The redhead littered his practically empty coke and grabbed my face with his free hand to turn it up towards him. "Oh yep! I knew it."

My giggle escaped. "Stop it, Axeee." I whined and swatted him away.

He took my own practically empty soda out of my hand and tossed it just as he did with his before he wrapped his arms tightly around my waist and kissed me deeply. My hands found their usual place in his mess of perfectly gelled hair.

When we parted he smiled against my lips. "We had our first technical kiss here."

"Oh.. Yeah…"

"What were you thinking? When I did that? Because… I'm not sure I know what _I _was thinking." He chuckled a bit.

"Hmm. Well… it made me happy. Really happy. But… I thought you were just doing it to distract me from everything else that was going on." I looked down.

"Well _that _would be a silly reason to kiss someone. To distract them." He rubbed my cheek with his hand.

"You're right. But I couldn't think of anything else…"

"You mean it didn't occur to you that I _liked_ you?"

I laughed nervously and pressed my head into his chest and he brushed my hair with his fingers. He swayed a bit as if we were slow dancing.

"I just couldn't think of anything you could possibly see in me." I said self-consciously.

"Are you kidding? Rox, do you know how sweet you are? And funny? And smart? And creative? And not to mention adorable, sexy, and all around perfect?" Axel laughed.

I sighed and felt my face heat up with embarrassment. I couldn't respond.

My boyfriend spoke up again. "I thought you would get mad at me, to be honest."

"Really?" I asked.

"Yeah. I was scared you'd start freaking out at me. I was so relieved when you kissed me back. You just looked so pretty with all the rain messing up your hair, and you were so upset that night I just wanted to tell you I cared about you, but it was impossible for me to say anything. So I kissed you, without even thinking."

"I'm glad you did." I said, tracing one of my hands down his jaw before I reached up and gave him a quick peck on the lips. I squeezed my arms around him in a hug and nuzzled my head against his shirt, letting my eyes close as I took in his scent.

We didn't say anything after that. We just stood there embracing, swaying slightly, and enjoying the nice breeze accompanied by the fireflies and the stars and nothing else.

"Sorry to break up the love fest…" Said a whiny female voice suddenly.

Axel and I both jumped and pulled apart, startled by the unexpected company. We turned to see three people in dark suits.

One was a girl and the other two were guys - guys that looked like they could kill us in one punch. The vibes I was getting from them were not friendly, and I kept thinking back to the car that was following us.

"You're Axel, am I correct?" Asked the man with the pale skin and the long black hair tied in a ponytail.

"Um… yeah… who's askin'?" Axel responded nervously.

I inched closer to my redhead and grabbed onto the back of his shirt.

"We're called The Turks. Your brother used to be one of us." The same guy informed us.

I felt Axel tense, and I'm sure we were both thinking the same thing.

_Oh fuck. They're drug dealers. This can't be good._

"So what do you want from _me_?" Warily, Axel asked.

"Well… he still owes us quite a bit of money. We need to collect. And since he's gotten himself locked up, he can't very well get the money to us now can he?"

"How much are we talking here?" My boyfriend sounded short of breath.

"Fifteen thousand."

"Dollars!" Axel squeaked.

The girl barked a short laugh. "No, he means in Euros. Dumbass." She spat sarcastically.

"Reno doesn't have that kind of money!" Axel shouted, and I clutched tighter on his shirt, getting scared.

"Oh I'm sure he will… hey blonde kid…" The guy with the ponytail spoke up again, and this time he directed his attention towards me. "Go talk to Reno… get him to tell you where he's keeping it. Tell him if he doesn't…" With one swipe he grabbed Axel by his hair and yanked him away from me.

Axel yelped in surprise. The other two grabbed his arms as he tried to squirm and get away.

"Axe-" I bounded forward and the bigger guy with the sunglasses shoved me down immediately without even trying.

The one with the ponytail whipped out a gun and pointed it at me. I froze.

"Roxas, get out of he-!" My boyfriend screamed at me but the guy with the glasses clamped a hand over his mouth.

The girl was having trouble keeping hold of Axel by that point so she pulled out her own gun and pressed it against his head. I whimpered at the sight.

"Alrighty, redhead. If you don't cooperate you're dead." She hissed. He hesitantly stopped squirming.

The guy who was still aiming his gun at me spoke again. "Tell Reno to tell you where he keeps the money or his baby brother will be no more. You have exactly twenty four hours. Meet us here. You give us the money, and we'll return Axelto you."

"But… what if he really doesn't have it?" My voice broke. I was terrified. I couldn't stop looking at Axel who looked so helpless.

"Then you'll find a way to get it anyway…" He told me as if it was the obvious answer.

"But-" I tried, knowing it was no use.

"No buts! Fifteen thousand, twenty four hours, or your boyfriend's a goner. Got it, kid?" His lips curled into a snarl.

I nodded slightly, running ideas through my head of what I could do if Reno didn't have the money - which I'm sure he didn't. Tears welled in my eyes and my throat felt tight. What the hell was I going to do? I had no idea. I was panicking and my heart was racing and I never felt so frightened in my life.

"And if you bring in the cops or anyone else into this for that matter - you're dead. Both of you. Understand me?" He cocked his gun at me as a threat.

I nodded once more. I was trembling. I felt my tears leak onto my cheeks. Ponytail Guy turned around and nodded at the other Turks before they started dragging Axel away. I heard my boyfriend's muffled shouts.

"Stay put until we're gone. Don't you dare follow us." Ponytail Guy called out to me.

"Axel! Don't worry okay? I'll get it! I'm not gonna let anything happen to you! I promise." I screamed after him as I stood up, but I stayed in place as was demanded. I wasn't going to risk pissing these 'Turks' off.

The girl laughed and I saw her put her gun away. "The kid's kind of cute."

I growled under my breath. I kept my eyes on the back of Axel's head until they were gone. As soon as they were I collapsed on my knees and started sobbing uncontrollably. I was scared and confused and I had no idea what I was going to do. I just knew that I couldn't let _anything _happen to Axel. I knew they'd constantly be threatening him, but hopefully they wouldn't lay a hand on him. For the next twenty four hours I knew I had to rely solely on hope.

First thing's first, I had to get off my pathetic, crying butt and go see Reno.

As I rose to my feet again I realized I was still trembling. I sniffled. Adrenaline was pumping through my body. I was suddenly _running _to my car. I felt weak and shaky but I couldn't stop.

Why couldn't things just go right for once?

All of this shit was so far fetched, I could barely believe I was living through it.

I slammed on the gas and didn't bother to put on my seat belt. I was sick of this shit. I was going to get the damn money, no matter what. I would think of something if Reno didn't fall through. Axel was more important than anything. "God… Axe… I hope you're okay. You just gotta hang in there…" I muttered to myself, pleading he would be alright.

I sped up a little more and hurried as fast as I could to the town's little prison.

**x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o**

"Hi, my name's Roxas… I was wondering if I could speak to Reno?" I panted as I marched inside. I spoke to some guy at a desk… he looked like he'd never laughed at anything in his life.

"Family?" He asked me skeptically.

"Well, no, sir. But it does concern his baby brother. It's an emergency…"

"You got ten minutes. That guy over there will show you to Reno's cell." This uptight man told me as he nodded toward another equally uptight man. Did they all have sticks shoved up their asses?

"Roxas? What the hell are _you _doing here?" Shouted Axel's brother once he saw me. He had to do a double take.

"Ten minutes…" The guy who showed me to Reno's cell said before leaving us to privacy. No one was really around to listen to our conversation, and I was thankful. I was worried that he would have a cellmate but he didn't.

Reno just stared at me, bewildered. "Ohmygod. What did Axel do?"

"Axel… didn't do anything. Look. I have to make this fast…." I took a deep breath and explained the situation. When I was done Reno just stared at me, his jaw hanging a bit.

"I don't have the money, Roxas…" He told me somberly. "I got screwed over. Everything was going fine. But I got fucked right in the ass…"

"Um, no need for that metaphor." I muttered.

"Whatever. Point is - I got everything taken away from me. I don't have a cent and I owe even more than that now that the cops took my stash away…" Reno groaned.

"Well why the hell would you even get into this shit? Now Axel's being held _hostage_ by some fucked up drug dealers! What if they _kill _him, Reno? There's got to be _something_…" I whispered, fearing our conversation was being heard. I was paranoid.

"Look, Roxas, I'm sorry about all this. But I just don't have the money. I don't have anything you can give them or tell them…" He sighed. "I never wanted any of this shit to happen…"

"So why did it?" I could feel myself ready to take my anger out on Axel's brother. I was pissed. "Axel was so upset! He couldn't believe you'd be giving pot to teens! He couldn't believe how long you've been lying to him! He trusted you!"

"…"

"And you know what? My parents _just died_, okay? And it was _my _fault. It was an accident but it was still _my fault_. If something happens to Axel, because I can't get this stupid fifteen thousand dollars in twenty four hours… I swear to God I'm… I'm just not gonna be able to live with myself." I huffed, exasperated.

"…"

I just glared at him, annoyed with his unresponsive stare.

"Look, Roxas…" He finally spoke. "I love my brother. I was trying to make things better for him, which was why I got into this stupid situation. But I just don't know how to…" He sighed heavily and slammed his head against the wall in his cell, startling me. "Fuck. Fuck. _Fuck_." He hissed. "I never meant for any of this to happen… I can't lose Axel. He's all I got left. Even though he hates me. But I don't know what to _do_."

I felt bad for him, but I didn't have time to feel bad for him. I had to figure everything out.

"Reno…" I started. "I'm not gonna let anything happen to Axel. I'll figure out something. Do you know where I can at least get _two_ thousand dollars?"

"You mean you have a way to get the other thirteen thousand?" He asked, baffled and hopeful.

"A little something called college savings." I muttered sadly.

"Oh.. God…" The redhead put his face in his hands. "I have successfully ruined a handful of lives…"

"Don't worry about any of that right now, okay? I just want Axel to be safe…" I barked.

"You really care about him, don't you?" He asked as if something was dawning on him.

"…" I debated telling him but I ended up doing it. "We're actually… um… together. So. Yes. I care about him. A lot."

He blinked.

"What? That a problem for you?" I hissed, and crossing my fingers that he wasn't a homophobe.

To my surprise, Reno actually laughed. "No! No… I just…" He laughed again. "Axel always had a thing for you. He'd blush when he asked if you could come over for dinner or spend the night. I always teased him. I just never thought he'd ever get the guts to tell you."

I blushed. "Anyway. The two thousand dollars? Any ideas?"

Reno ran his hands through his hair. "I have this friend. He lives at 16 Apple Boulevard. Go there. Tell him the situation and tell him I'll pay him back _three _thousand when I'm out. He's a good guy. Trust me."

"He's a drug dealer too?" I asked, sighing.

"Yes. But… he's okay. I promise. He'll understand the situation."

"And how are you gonna pay him back three thousand?"

"I'll do it. I'll find a way. Just _go_, Roxas. And I'm… really sorry about all of this. Not that I expect you or Axel to forgive me. Tell him I'm sorry too. And tell him I love him. Okay?" Reno pleaded.

I looked him over before I left. "Yeah. I'll tell him. Thanks, Reno."

"Don't even think about thanking me, kid. Now go rescue your damsel in distress." He smirked.

"Ha ha." I said as I walked out.

Once I was in my car and was ready to head off for 16 Apple Boulevard, I couldn't believe the situation I was in. I was headed to a drug dealer's house to get two thousand dollars to add to my college savings to save my boyfriend from _more_ drug dealers who wanted to kill him!

Hoping Axel was doing okay was still constantly on my mind. I had to do what I had to do. Whatever would save him - I'd do it.

**x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o**

"He-hello. M-my name's Roxas. I, uh…" An audible gulp escaped me and I felt my face heat up as a sketchy guy with dirty blonde shaggy hair and black clothes greeted me at his door, on 16 Apple Boulevard.

"I don't deal to kids." He replied before nearly shutting his door. I stopped it with my hand and he glared at me.

"No. No, um. I'm not here for… um, that." I informed him nervously.

"Oh?" He asked, opening his door wide again and leaning against the frame. "Then what _are_ you here for?"

"Well. It's a long story. But uh, bottom line is… Reno told me you could help me."

"Reno?" The guy grinned widely. "Where is that kid? Haven't seen him in quite a while."

"Um… he's… in jail." I muttered in response.

The man stared at me in confusion, I could tell he wanted an immediate explanation.

"Got ratted for selling to a kid. Someone my age, I guess." I told him.

"…I never pegged Reno as selling to a kid. There's gotta be a back story." This man stroked his stubbly cheek as he spoke.

"Maybe. But I'm having a bit of emergency. He said you may be able to help me? I can explain what's going on and if you don't want to help, no worries… I'll… think of something else."

It was dark on the street and there was no one else around. I felt so sketched out.

"Alright, kid. Whatever it is I'm sure I'll be able to help you if Reno says I can help you. Come in." And he waved me inside before shutting the door.

He offered me a drink and I shook my head.

"Right. Hurry. Sorry. Have a seat. What's up? Oh, friends call me Slip by the way. You said your name was Roxas?"

"Yes. Anyway…" I sighed and sat on the couch across from the chair he sat in at a table. I began to tell him as much as I could without taking too long. By the time I was done I was trying not to cry again. I was tired and stressed out and worried… and in a _drug dealer's house_. But I kept it together.

"You say this Axel's your friend, but he's more than that. Isn't he?" Slip's eyes crinkled as he stared at me knowingly.

"Um. Yeah."

"I could tell by the look on your face. You're terrified. Listen. Reno's a good guy. He's told me all about his parents and his brother. I've heard great stories about Axel. You can definitely get the two thousand - and because of Reno's situation. Tell him not to worry about paying me back a cent. It's the least I could do. Reno's helped me through some tough times too. Plus…" Slip cleared his throat. "My fiancé, an awesome girl, perfect in every way… she was murdered. In a situation similar to this. I'm not gonna let that happen to you, bud. Though I have to say… The Turks are big on threatening but they never do much. They may rough him up a bit. But he's safe, kid. So don't worry about him."

"R-Really? You'll help? You think he's safe?" I felt a surge of relief.

"Yes to both. Everything's gonna be fine kid." Slip winked and stood up, going into another room. "Gimme a sec. I'll grab the cash then you should get the heck out of here."

I took a deep breath, telling myself everything was going to be fine.

"Actually, you know, you're gonna have to wait until the banks open in the morning. That's way too much money to take out from an ATM. The tellers are gonna think you're crazy, you know. They may ask questions." Slip informed me, handing me two thousand dollars cash easy as that.

"Thank you. So much. Really. And, I suppose you're right. They won't be at the spot until tomorrow night anyway. God, what am I gonna do until tomorrow morning?" The last part I said to myself.

"Sleep." He chuckled. "You'll need it."

"…I can't sleep in this situation." I told him honestly.

"Well, try. Bud, I've seen some pretty hard shit. And you're young. Best thing for you to do is take a deep breath and relax. Go home and try to rest until morning." Slip smiled and nodded at me and headed to the door to open it for me. "Good luck. Feel free to come by and tell me how it went, k?"

I nodded. I would do it too, he _was_ a great deal of help after all. "Thank you!"

**x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o**

By three in the morning, I realized I was _not _going to be falling asleep. I sighed and rolled on my side.

_Axel, please be okay. I hope they're not hurting you…_

I shut my eyes tightly. I didn't want to think about it. I just wanted it to be six in the morning when the banks open up.

The pillow smelled like Axel and my eyes filled with tears. I clung to it and cried softly. The bed felt empty and cold without him.

_Please be okay…_

I sniffled. I had to pull myself together. Crying would get me nowhere. I had to relax and be patient.

_God, Axe, be okay. Please. Please. Please._

I made myself as comfortable as possible. I set the alarm. I had to sleep. It would make morning come faster.

_Hold on a little longer. I'm gonna give them what they want and then you can come home._

I don't know why I pretended he could hear my thoughts. It just made me feel better. And it made me fall asleep quicker.

_I love you._

_

* * *

_

**Cheesey drama! Yay! I'm SURE the Turks were a bit OOC, but like Xion, I had to mold them to fit with my story. (:**

**I'm sure you guys are all like... WTF IS THIS? DYING PARENTS? TEENAGERS CLUBBING? DRUG DEALERS? PSYCHO EX-BOYFRIENDS? GAY GUYS FEARING THEY WON'T GET ACCEPTANCE? GIVING UP COLLEGE FUNDS? WATCH MORE DEGRASSI, WHY DON'T YOU? **

**All I have to say is... sorry... but it's entertaining, is it not?**

**Please, please, please review. So far the reviews have all been great and I love the ones with loads of paragraphs. They make me smile. Even if I don't reply, don't get upset. I love you all equally with all of my heart and soul and other mushy things that I could list here. (:**

**xoxo ROSE RIKU  
**


	14. Fourteen: Axel

**I've updated again! HOORAH! Yeah, this story has pretty much turned to crap and died. But I'll give you more stuff once this is done! (One or two more chapters...) **

**Sorry for the boring chapter. I suck. You hate me. xD**

**I also thought I'd point out - my grammar is messed up with the dialogue and the starting sentences with 'and'. I'm surprised no one's commented on that. I do it on purpose. Not even kidding. I always thought it looked better. But I ONLY do it with fanfiction. Because Fanfiction is so chill and awesome like that. (:**

**I LOVE ALL THE REVIEWS I'VE BEEN GETTING! I LOVE YOU MY BABIES. SORRY I KILLED THE STORY EXCITEMENT! I'LL MAKE THE NEXT CHAPTER BETTER HOPEFULLY? **

**Enjoy.  
**

* * *

**The Promises of Summer**

**Chapter Fourteen: Axel**

"Did you have a good night's sleep?" Elena, as I learned her name was, asked with a smirk after she and the other two barged in the small white room which was furnished with nothing but the chair I was in and a light bulb on the ceiling. "Yes? I thought so."

I just glared at her. I was exhausted and my arms were searing with pain. They were lame enough to tie me to a fucking chair.

"Fine. Don't be a social butterfly. You wouldn't have to have been tied to a chair if you'd have just cooperated nicely." She told me.

It had been a hell of a night. I had been deeply upset but it just turned to rage since I didn't get a second of sleep. I was sick of their crap. But I was worried. Reno did _not _have that money. I _knew _he didn't. What would Roxas do? I had no idea what he would try to do, but I knew how stubborn he was. He was an idiot in these kind of situations. What if he got himself hurt or in trouble trying to do something _stupid_? What if something happened and he couldn't show up?

Then we'd _both_ be dead.

I looked at Tseng, the one with the ponytail. "What happens if Roxas shows up but doesn't have the money?"

"Haven't decided if I'll kill you in front of him then kill him, or kill him in front of you then kill _you_." He shrugged. "Depends on my mood. One or the other."

Fucking perfect.

"I'll fucking kill you if you touch him." I hissed.

"Oh, alright, so then we should kill _you _first…" Tseng mused.

All night they'd messed with me, and tried to get my blood boiling. I'd ignored them and ignored them until I'd had enough and I admittedly started freaking out on all of them. Well, Rude didn't say much, but I freaked out on the other two. I was ready to tear them to pieces. That… was when I got punched in the face and _tied to a fucking chair_.

I was regretting blowing up on them. Just a little.

"Look, why the hell are you doing this to us? We have nothing to do with Reno's problems with you!" I squirmed in my lovely chair. "Especially Roxas!"

"Well _you're_ the only leverage we have against Reno." Tseng informed me. "Tough luck kid."

I sighed heavily. My eyes were burning and my body ached. I longed to go home and sleep - with Roxy next to me and no real worries on my mind.

I suddenly hoped desperately that he wouldn't show up. That he'd just stay far away. Then he wouldn't get hurt. They'd never find him.

But I knew he would never do that. I cringed and shut my eyes tightly. I didn't want to imagine what was going to happen.

"Aww, I think he's upset about his little boyfriend." The blonde bitch teased, touching my shoulder. I violently shrugged her off. It hurt when the ropes around my wrists tugged. I winced.

"Oh he's still got the rest of the day to come up with the cash. It's only nine." Tseng said. "Anyway, we'll leave you be now. Don't hurt yourself." He smirked before leading the others out the door. I heard it shut and lock and I was in silence once again. Luckily for me, they turned on the light when they came in and never shut it back off. The whole night I was awake in complete darkness. It creeped me out.

I sighed and mumbled to myself. "I thought this shit only happened in movies…"

I tried shifting in my chair to make myself more comfortable. My arms were so sore, it was unbearable. My neck wasn't in great shape either.

I blamed Reno. That bastard ruined _everything. _Things would have been fine if he hadn't been so damn _stupid_. I was aching to chew him out, make him regret everything. I hated him. Absolutely fucking hated him.

But as pissed off as I was at Reno and the situation he'd cause, I couldn't stop worrying about Roxas. It couldn't go to the back of my mind. I couldn't tell myself everything would be okay. I didn't even have a clock to know how much more time there was. I just had a white wall. If I could get into my damn pocket, I'd have my cell phone, but my tied up arms kind of made that option moot.

_Roxas, I hope you're okay…_

I brought my legs up on the chair. I rested my head on my knees. Wasn't very comfortable but at least I had something to rest my head on. I shut my eyes for a moment. It was a relief to feel the burning ease.

_I love you._

Panic stirred inside me. I swallowed a lump in my throat. I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to keep cool. I wanted a face to break with my fist.

I just sat in a curled up little, miserable, pathetic ball like that. For hours.

**x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o**

God, I was _really _fucking hungry and thirsty. To the point where I felt weak and shaky and exhausted. My head was killing me. My body was sore. The side of my face still hurt from when Tseng slugged me one. Plus, the Turks just informed me we were about to leave. Rude (I picked up his name when Tseng had addressed him once last night) was untying me from my chair. My wrists were numb and throbbing as I slowly brought them in front of me. My arms felt like lead. I cringed.

My stomach was aching from lack of food and also from fear. I didn't want to see Roxas there waiting, but I also did. I wanted him to have the money, but I also didn't. If Reno had been hoarding that much cash… God… I would be endlessly enraged. I'd be a Hulk on steroids.

"Get up! We're going. You're better hope you're little boyfriend is there with cash in hand." Elena shouted at me. I had no energy to shoot a remark at her. I stood up and almost fell back down. I really needed food, water, sleep, a shower, a bed… and I really had to pee.

"Come _on_, pretty boy. We don't _have _all day." She hissed, grabbing hold of my arm and tugging.

I winced and pulled it hastily away from her. "Don't fucking touch me, you stupid bitch." I practically slurred. I was so tired and my head was spinning. It was seemingly out of no where that I felt a sharp sting on the already injured side of my face. I sucked in a breath. That bitch had _scratched _me.

Once I realized what had happened I lunged my arm out at her, hitting her in the jaw. It wasn't as hard as I could have done, my arm just felt _so_ heavy. It surprised her nonetheless. Rude immediately grabbed me and held my arms tightly behind my back. I winced again.

Tseng pulled out a gun and pressed it against my neck. I turned my head up instinctively. "I almost hope he _doesn't _have the money because I would enjoy killing you."

For a moment I wondered if him and Elena had some _thing _going on, but then I decided I didn't care.

He added, "You touch anyone again, you're dead. Understood?"

I didn't answer.

"Understood?" He asked again, jamming the gun into my neck.

I nodded.

"Good." He smiled at me before turning to head out the door with Elena. Rude kept manhandling me as he guided me out behind them.

I was brought out to the same van I was literally tossed in last night. And I was tossed in yet again. Very forcefully, too, I might add.

"Shut your face. Don't talk unless we tell you to." Elena informed me as she got in the van. I was slumped carelessly in the back, leaning against the back door. My body was trembling from nerves and lack of food and water.

I took a deep, steady breath and braced myself for what could possibly happen as I felt the vehicle start moving. I squeezed my eyes shut. I was overwhelmed by the feeling of wanting everything to be over. Hadn't both Roxas and I dealt with enough shit for one Summer?

_I_ sure thought so.

**x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o**

When we came to a stop everyone jumped out of the van. Rude came around to let me out, but grabbed my elbow forcefully when he had the chance. As if I'd make a run for it _now_.

A lump formed in my throat when I saw we were parked in front of Kenny. An unoccupied Kenny. Roxas had to be waiting in our spot. I trembled but forced myself to keep walking straight as Rude dragged me along, and hid my fear as best I could.

Even in the dark I easily made out Roxas's figure as we approached him. He was staring at us, gripping one of his hands in a fist. He made eye contact with me instantly, giving me a soft look. He didn't look worried, but he looked exhausted.

"Do you have what we asked for?" Tseng questioned, stepping towards my boyfriend. Rude, Elena, and I stayed back. I wanted to run towards Roxas and throw my aching arms around him but I stayed still.

"…Yeah." He answered.

I shot my head up, my eyes widening. Reno had the money? He had the fucking money the whole time?

Or, I mean, I had no idea how Roxas could have gotten the money other than from Reno.

My blonde shot me an apologetic look. _God, Roxas, what did you do?_

"Reallyy?" Tseng sounded shocked. "Let's see it then."

Roxas counted the money in his hand. Tseng probably looked just as surprised as I was. "Fourteen thousand nine hundred… fifteen thousand. There. Take it and let Axel go."

"Well… guess I have no choice. Although I was looking forward to killing the redhead." Tseng sighed dramatically and gestured for Rude to let me go. He did… well more like he shoved me away from him. I lost my balance from the surprise force and landed on my knees.

Elena snorted. "Are we done here?"

"Any word gets out about all this, you two are dead." Tseng threatened.

My boyfriend immediately ran over, kneeling in front of me, ignoring Tseng's pointless threat.

I turned a bit and watched the Turks retreat together, acting as if they couldn't have possibly just killed two innocent teenagers. But maybe they were always just talk from the beginning. I grimaced at them but soon they were gone and I felt an unhealthy sense of relief.

I heard Roxas exhale softly, he sounded as relieved as me. I faced him and couldn't resist leaping at him. I tackled him to the slightly damp grass. I kissed his cheek followed by his jaw and down his neck. I slid my arms behind his shoulders and squeezed him against me, burying my face into his collar bone. I let out a little whine when he wrapped his arms around me and pulled me closer to him.

"Are you okay, Axe?" He asked me quietly.

His voice made me feel like crying. I couldn't believe it had only been a day we'd been apart. It felt like a century. I relaxed at the thought of just forgetting it ever happened. "Mm… yeah… But can we go home now?"

Roxas cupped my face and pried it off his body. Then he caught glimpse of Tseng and Elena's little marks. He tilted my chin so he could see it better in the moonlight. "…Oh…what did you do to piss them off?" He didn't sound surprised, but he sounded highly concerned.

"Ugh. Don't worry about it. It's just a bruise and a little scratch. They just went for my face because they couldn't stand the beauty of it. Can we go home now?" I whined again. I was crabby and tired.

Roxy chuckled. He pecked me on the lips and I smiled at him. "You sure you're okay? What did they do to you?"

"…I was stuck in a room. For ever. And they were dousche bags. And I was _so _scared that…"

"That what?"

"I didn't even imagine you'd get the money and they said they'd- wait. How did you get the money?" I asked, rolling off of him and sitting up beside him. I realized I was still painfully sore.

"Said they'd what?" He asked me, sidestepping the question.

I groaned. "Kill you. In front of my face."

His blue eyes widened briefly. "Oh."

"So where'd you get it?" I asked again.

"I thought you said you wanted to go home!" Roxas stood up suddenly and held his hand out to me. "You need sleep and food and water… God, you must be exhausted."

I took his hand and stood up stiffly. "Roxas. _Where the hell did you get all that money_?"

"Axel, don't worry about it. Everything's perfectly fine. We can go home and forget this ever happened." He said, squeezing my hand.

I glared hard at him, he just gave me an easy smile. I shook my head. "You're telling me later, okay?"

"…Fine." The blonde sighed. "Just remember, Axe, nothing matters more to me than you."

"…Huh?"

He sighed again. "Come on. Let's get you home."

I swallowed hard as he started leading me by the hand. I had no idea what he could have possibly done.

**x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o**

We stopped and grabbed drive through McDonald's on the way home. I drank some soda and had a couple fries, but I was freaking exhausted. I immediately ran to take a long bath. My hair was pretty much shit.

After I had completely washed up and loaded my hair with enough conditioner for a week, I couldn't get myself to get out of the tub. I was so sore and the warm water helped loads. And I was just so, so tired.

Roxy tapped on the door softly before coming in. He was cute and slightly blushy. As if he hadn't seen me without clothes on before. But the water pretty much hid everything anyway.

"Are you feeling any better?" My boyfriend asked me meekly. "You were in here for a while so I just had to make sure you didn't drown." He chuckled lightly. I saw he brought in my food that I barely touched as he crouched next to the tub, leaning against the wall.

"Yeah, I feel a bit better now. I'm just tired… Didn't feel like getting up."

My blondie smiled at me and then sat up straight on his knees. He held my chin as he grabbed for a washcloth and dabbed at the side of my face before putting it back down. Just taking off some dried blood I assume. It was a minor injury. No more than a bad cat scratch. It just looked bad because it was on my flawless face.

"This has been one hell of a Summer, huh?" I muttered almost bitterly.

"Mm…" Nodded Roxas in agreement.

"Nothing like I pictured." I said. "I thought it'd just be filled with work, going clubbing with the gang, sleeping in occasionally…" A sigh escaped me. "Nothing exciting."

"…I know what you mean." He whispered with sadness.

"Roxas?"

"Hmm?"

"…Where'd you get the money?"

My boyfriend visibly tensed. Then he proceeded to shove a fry in my face.

I let him feed me one, then I glared at him. "Roxas."

"Well. Your brother had a friend who literally just let me have some." He told me awkwardly.

"What? Who?" I asked, crinkling my nose in confusion.

"Um, some guy called Slip." He said. "The guy was pretty nice, actually."

"Uh huh. I won't bug you for details on that. What about the rest, Rox?" I wondered who the hell 'Slip' was. I'd never heard of him in my life.

A wince escaped him, making his pale face pale even more. "Um. I uh, got into my… college savings."

"…"

"…"

"…_WHAT?_" I (admittedly) snarled.

He flinched and I sighed dramatically.

"Roxas. What the hell? You should have done anything but that! That's everything you have! What about your dream? What were you thinking?" I spat out the questions.

He obviously knew I'd freak out. That's why he didn't want to tell me right away. Or maybe he was going to lie, come up with something else.

"What do you mean, 'what was I thinking'? Axe, you had… drug dealers… you- you got _kidnapped_ by _drug dealers _who were threatening to _kill _you!" He shouted, seeming baffled by the reality of it all. "I… did you think I was just gonna let them? You fucking _dumbass_. Do you think going to school is more important to me than _your life_? Are you really that _stupid_?" Roxy's voice broke and he swallowed hard. "Plus, I mean, I've seen so many worse things in the past several weeks. It doesn't even fucking _matter_ anymore. Who cares about money? Or school? Or jobs? Who really, honestly _cares_?" He panted. "So don't even think about getting mad at me! What other choice did I have?"

Oh but it wasn't that I was mad.

I was devastated.

"I'm… I'm not _mad_ at you, love. If it wasn't for you, I'd be done for by now." I smirked, trying to lighten the mood. He just stared at me - not amused. "Look, I feel like a prune. I'm gonna get changed and I'll talk to you in a sec, okay?"

He nodded and stood up. "I'm gonna put your food in the fridge for now."

"Yeah, sure." I said, standing up as he shut the door behind him.

I got dressed quickly in boxers and a white t-shirt before draining the tub and running a brush through my hair. It was really long when it was wet.

Once I stepped out of the bathroom I didn't see Roxas in the kitchen or the living room - so I headed right to our room.

Funny, how quickly it had gone from being my room to _our _room.

God, I felt much older than I was.

"Roxy?" I called out softly as I stepped in. He was draped on the bed, looking emotionally and physically tired. I felt the same way.

I plopped myself next to him. His face was buried in a pillow and he looked kind of comical. I rubbed his back. "Are you alive?" I teased.

"Unfortunately."

"Hey. Don't start with the emo."

"Sorry." He mumbled into the pillow.

"Look, babe, I'm sorry I freaked out. I just… I dunno. I wish there could have been some other way."

"Axel, who cares? You're safe. I'm safe. We're okay. It was just money. No big deal. I will live." He said after turning his head towards me.

"But I just hate this. You've already… lost so much. I mean… why this, too?" I closed my eyes in frustration. "I hate it. I hate my brother. I hate how everything… _is_."

"Now who's emo? Geez, Axel, it could have been worse." Roxy swallowed hard. "I could have lost _you."_

He reached out and caressed the side of my face. I'm sure I blushed.

I leaned forward and grabbed the blanket to pull over us. I didn't say anything as I shut off the light and wrapped my arms around Roxas once I laid back down. I pulled him as close to me as I possibly could, his back against my stomach.

"Are you gonna tell Sora?" I asked him in a whisper since we were so close.

"…No. He'll freak." He whispered back.

"He would. God." I sighed. "So we should just pretend it never happened?"

"…Right." Roxas answered.

We were both silent for a minute. Then Roxas spoke up again.

"Reno loves you, you know. He didn't mean for any of this to happen. He's really sorry."

"…Don't even think about being on his side." I muttered. "I'm never forgiving him for any of this."

"I just thought you should know how he feels."

"The only thing he's gonna feel is my fist in his face once I see him again."

"…He knows we're together." My boyfriend informed me.

"…"

"…"

"You told him?" I asked, wondering how Reno took it.

"Well, yeah."

"What did he say?"

"He laughed."

"Really?"

"Yep. He didn't think you'd ever have the guts to tell me how you felt." Roxy giggled.

I felt heat in my cheeks again. Did everyone have to point out that I was a pansy the whole time I've known Roxas?

"Well, I guess he was wrong." I said.

Roxas giggled again, but didn't say anything. I wondered what was so funny, but I ignored it.

I nuzzled against him, breathing him in. "I want to forget the past twenty four hours ever happened…"

"Then let's." My boyfriend said decidedly. "Go to sleep, Axel. You're so tired…"

I sighed. "Yeah…" I nuzzled him some more. "I love you, Roxy."

The blonde grabbed my hand that was around his waist and held it in his, running his thumb over my fingers. "…I love you, too."

And just like that, I felt better and I fell asleep easily.

* * *

**LAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAME.**

**I love you.**

**xox Rose Riku  
**


	15. Fifteen: Roxas

**I. Am. So. So. So. Sorry. I haven't updated in over TWO MONTHS. I apologize profusely. But this story is drawing nearer to the end as we speak. I'm guessing two or three more chapters. For some reason, my mind drew a blank whenever I went to start writing this chapter and it came out all funny. There's a whole bunch of dialogue in here. Sorry if that annoys you. Also, I'm really surprised no one's said anything about my grammar. This story goes by my sort of free-form writing and it's not grammatically correct especially with dialogue. My next story will be grammatically correct if that's bugged anyone at all, even though I've heard no complaints. Maybe because you guys are so wonderful.**

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**I'm up to over 81,400 words (and that's before posting this) - 7,244 hits - 50 favorites and 63 alerts. I'm happy with the turnout and although I sometimes wanted to just kill this story off, I'm not - for you guys. **

**Okay, I'll shut up so you can read what you've been nagging me to write for so long. :P  
**

* * *

**The Promises of Summer**

**Chapter Fifteen: Roxas**

I woke up with warm arms wrapped around me - a good way to start my day. Axel was limp and snoring lightly. I remained still so I wouldn't wake him up. I had no idea what time it was, nor did I care. It was hard to care about things like what _time _it was anymore. It was hard to care about work, which was crazy since I was so passionately in love with video games like any boy my age. And don't even get me started on school. The thought of school starting in about a month just made me want to crawl in a hole and die.

I'm sorry, but regardless of how much my brother and I say we have to move on and rip things off like bandaids - we don't actually do that. It's just a mask. I haven't really gone a second feeling like I've moved on.

And after the whole… drug dealer-kidnapping-college savings-fifteen thousand-dollar crap that Axel and I have just gone through… I have honestly and completely just given up.

I can almost laugh.

If something as ridiculous as dead parents, jailed brothers, and losing all of your college savings to drug dealers happens again…

I'm killing myself. After I go on a homicidal rampage.

If it wasn't for Axel, I swear…

I swear I would have given up by now.

Well, not just Axel - my brother, too. I wonder how well _he's_ holding up. Probably better than I am - seeing as he's much more optimistic and has a little less on his plate. He didn't have to give up his college savings to save his boyfriend from drug dealers. Lucky. But I know he was lots closer to Mom and Dad than I was.

_Was_.

I smiled to myself. I'm at the stage where I feel rather bitter and sarcastic about all these idiotic events. Like, crying doesn't help. Pretending like it's all going to be okay doesn't help. So might as well _laugh_ right?

I ran my hand over Axel's arm, feeling instantly at ease as I leaned against him a little more.

I rested my eyes, feeling like I was going to let myself fall back asleep - but my cell started ringing from the other side of the freaking room. Crap.

I felt Axel stir slightly as Right Where You Want Me echoed through the room.

"Sorry, Axe!" I whispered to him, pulling his arms off of me.

He mumbled something I couldn't understand. Poor guy must have been so exhausted.

I dashed to the place where I heard the music coming from and saw it was Demyx calling me. Weird. He usually called Axel first.

"What?" I answered, not bothering to give Sitar-Man a hello.

"Well hello to you too, Blondie. How come Axel's phone is off?" He asked.

"Oh." I blinked. "Must be dead."

"Whatever. Soooo… you two doing anything interesting today?" Asked Demyx, sounding gayer than Richard Simmons.

"Uhh…" I looked over at Axel. It would be a good idea to just let him sleep all day. We needed to have a bit of cool-off, no-drama time. But hanging out with almost-sane people sounded wonderful to me at the moment. "Can I call you right back?"

"Sure thing! Talk to you soon, amigo! Oh. Sugar Stick says hiiii." He giggled and I heard Zexion in the background mumble something. "Okay, maybe he didn't say hi but I know he secretly wants to. Bye!" Click.

Weirdo.

"Who was that?" Axel murmured.

"Demyx." I answered, plugging my phone back into it's charger. "He tried to call you but your phone's dead I assume."

"Oh. Shit." My boyfriend sighed. "Still in my pants pocket."

I chuckled. "I'll plug it in for you."

"So what did he want?"

"Oh. Seeing if we were busy today. I told him I'd call him back. You wanna just take it easy today? We have work tomorrow and I know you must still not feel very great…" I suggested, walking over and pushing his hair out of his face as he rolled onto his back. He did look ridiculously exhausted.

"Mm… well… maybe we could do something with the gang later tonight? I could use something normal today. Just not right now, I'm too tired." He responded.

"Sounds good." I said, turning away from him to go retrieve his dead phone from his pants that I'm assuming he left in the bathroom, like the lazy guy he is.

I was right.

I plugged his phone into his charger before making us some well-needed coffee.

x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o

I pulled a comb through my freshly-styled hair. I felt clean and relaxed after taking a long, cool shower. It was one of those Summer days where it feels like you can never escape the heat. There's no air conditioning in Axel's little apartment, so the whole day it felt like we were baking in an oven.

Although, Axel slept most of the day so he didn't notice as much as I did.

Yeah, the entire day was spent with Axel completely passed out. Besides me forcing him to eat and drink a couple times, while I played Mario Kart. By myself. Which, by the way, is not that fun.

Axel was awake and energized _now _though. We were going clubbing with the gang and he had on his _tightest _jeans and sexiest black shirt. I was with Axel twenty-four/seven but I couldn't stop ogling him. His hair was newly gelled and it was all I could smell. He used like, half a bottle every time he did it.

As hot as he looked though, I could still see the little mark on the side of his face. A little bruise with a little scratch. I knew our friends would ask him 'how he got that little boo-boo right there'? But I had no idea what he would say.

"You look pretty sexy tonight." I told him, trying to bring out a smile or a cocky remark. The two of us were a lot more quiet than usual. Maybe he was getting sick of all the crap too. He was idly running his hand over his mom's glass heart that was resting exactly where he set it before we… yeah.

A little smirk took over my boyfriend's face. His emerald green eyes popped beneath his heavy coat of black eyeliner. "You mean I don't look 'pretty sexy' _every_ night?"

I chuckled. "No, I just mean you look _exceptionally _sexy tonight."

"Well I look like nothing next to you. We gonna head out now or just talk about how sexy we are for the rest of the night? I'm good with either." Axel winked.

"Yeah, yeah. Come on." I said, heading out the door with him behind me. I heard him sigh lightly and I frowned. I had a feeling that being kidnapped by drug dealers wasn't really what got to him. What got to him was his brother - his entire family situation. Maybe even the fact that I had to use my college savings to get him out of there. I don't know. But I did know that I wanted to drink tonight (even though I'm known to not be much of a drinker). I wanted to listen to loud music. I wanted to be with my friends. And I wanted to be with my boyfriend.

And I might actually dance with him. Even though I can't dance, and for the weirdest reason - I get ridiculously embarrassed and blushy when I so much as _try_. But I feel like a completely different person than I was just a month ago. So who knows?

x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o

"Heyyyy you two!" Demyx shouted at us the second we got out of Kenny. Mullet Brain ran up to us and glomped us both at the same time.

"Easy dude, I _just_ did my hair." Axel said, primping his spikes after Demyx pulled away.

"You're such a girl." Said a voice behind us.

Both Axel and I whipped around to see Larxene, staring at her fingernails. Her hair was obnoxiously slicked back as usual. I did not dig that style.

"Larxy!" Axel purred. "Haven't seen you around in a while."

I told myself not to get jealous.

"Yeah, well, I have a life." She replied in a snobby tone. She was never one to have manners or respect or think of anyone but herself. I didn't see how anyone could tolerate such a bitch.

"Oh yes I see. That's why you're _here_." Axel smirked, gesturing to the wonderful crap club that had become my second home as much as I didn't want to admit it.

Larxene rolled her eyes. "Marluxia dragged me here."

"AH! WHERE IS HE? DON'T LET HIM SEE ME!" Demyx squeaked, looking around everywhere madly.

"Still embarrassed from last time Dem-Dem?" My boyfriend chuckled. Such a cute sound.

Demyx grumbled. "I'm gonna go find Zexy." Before he turned around to walk away, sulking.

"Who the hell is Sexy?" Larxene asked in confusion.

"The correct pronunciation would be _Zexy_. Short for _Zexion_. Which is short for _Demyx's New Boy Toy_." Axel informed her, resting a hand on his Shakira-like hips.

"…Oh." Larxene paused, wrinkling her nose. "Lovely."

"Why is everyone standing around out here? Waiting for us?" Sora asked from the Riku Mobile. He and his boyfriend hopped out of the sexy car with grace.

Sora seemed a lot brighter than I've seen him in a while. I smiled at him and he smiled back with a little wave.

"Ew. Larxene is here?" I heard Riku mutter from behind his boyfriend's brunette spikes.

Sora snorted.

"Oh, chill out. I'm waiting for Marluxia. We've been here for two hours and I decided I wanted to leave. He said he'd meet me outside but I've been waiting here for _ages_." The blonde informed Riku, who she most definitely heard.

"Larxy - you came out while _we_ were out here. And we've only been here five minutes! Not even!" Axel folded his arms, clearly annoyed with her melodrama.

"Pfft." She huffed. "Five minutes of my time that has been _wasted_."

"Whatever!" Sora piped up, with a little jump. I could tell he was hyper. Great. Riku must have gave him candy again. "Can we please go _in_ now?"

Thank you, Sora!

"Yeah. Guys. Let's go." Leon poked his head from around a car. I hadn't even noticed him and Cloud there. Demyx and Zexion were next to them as well. Along with…

Oh Christ.

"What the heck are they doing here?" I whispered to Axel, clenching my fists.

"Fuck." My boyfriend hissed.

Xion. And Hayner.

Ew.

I looked directly at Demyx, mouthing his name and waving him over to where Axel and I still stood.

"What? Why do you guys look like you just saw a kitten get eaten by a snake?" My brother blinked at us, confused.

I rolled my eyes. "Xion and Hayner are here!" I whispered to him.

"Oh." Sora nodded, hunching his shoulders a little. Then he brightened. "Maybe we can stick some gum in Xion's hair again?"

"…No." Riku told Sora sternly.

"Aw. Why not? You're no fun Riku!" My brother pouted, but Riku placed a kiss on Sora's cheek to make him smile again.

Demyx finally skipped on over to us.

Yes, I said skipped.

"No, Marluxia is no where around here yet." I told him first off, so he wouldn't keep looking so dodgy.

"But he better be soon! Or I'll rip him a new one!" Larxene barked evilly. I ignored her.

"Great!" Mullet Brain sang. "So what's your dealio?"

"_Why. Are. Xion. And. Hayner. Here?_" I sucked in a breath. I said every word long and hard so that he would understand how clearly angry I was.

"Oh. Heh. Well, they were at Funtown and it wasn't so bad." Demyx said.

I glared.

Demyx sighed and rolled his eyes, as if I was wasting his breath. "Zexion and his sister will only be here til Summer is over. Hayner is home for good right now, meaning he'll be at school with you when classes start. But Xion and Hayner are probably going to have to tag along sometimes. Just ignore them. Don't worry - we won't let them be jerks!"

Easier said then done, Dem-Dem.

AND HAYNER BEING IN SCHOOL WITH ME? AAAGHH.

At least I'd have Axel.

That was all I needed.

I slipped my hand into said redhead's. He laced his fingers with mine instinctively. "Yeah, whatever." I told Demyx. "I'm not dealing with any crap today. No freaking way. Let's just go in."

I noticed Leon, Cloud, Sora, Riku, and Zexion were waiting at the door for us three - so we dashed to the entrance. My hand still in Axel's.

x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o

It took us a few minutes to squeeze ourselves in. The place was _packed_. The music was practically raping my ears.

"Dearest bar! My only love!" Demyx paused and looked at his boyfriend. "Besides you Sugar Stick, of course…"

Zexion scoffed.

"I come to you now!" Mullet Brain shouted at the bar and charged, with Zexion dragging his feet behind.

I shook my head. Idiots. I was surrounded.

Just then, Axel let go of my hand. I turned to see why but at that moment I felt his arms slide around me and he rested his head on my shoulder. "So you gonna actually dance with me tonight babe?"

"Heh…" I kissed his cheek. "Mayybeee."

Like a G6 by Far East Movement was thudding through the dancefloor like an earthquake. I felt the bass vibrating in my chest as Axel started steering me through the crowd with one of his hands on my back - guiding me.

He pushed me towards the back of the dance floor, near a window where some warm air was coming in - which was better than nothing since it was _so_ stuffy inside the club. Without warning, he leaned me against the wall next to the window and kissed me briefly. When he pulled away I looked around to see if anyone was staring at us, but no one was paying the slightest bit of attention.

Axel shook his head at me when he noticed how paranoid I was about people staring and leaned his forehead against mine.

I touched his cheek, "Does it hurt at all?" I asked, referring to the nark he got from the Turks.

"Nope." He answered quietly, his fingertips sliding into my belt loops on the sides of my hips.

"Hey, Axe…" I played with the end of one of his spiky red strands of hair. "What's your favorite song?"

My redhead blinked and pulled his forehead away a bit. "What?"

"What's your favorite song?" I repeated my question with a smile. I didn't know if he just couldn't hear me over the music or he though my question was weird. "I don't know it. I know a lot of songs you like… but I don't know your favorite."

Axel grinned. "I'm not sure I have a favorite."

"Everyone has a favorite song." I told him as I wrapped my arms around his neck.

Anyone who was anyone knew how close Axel and I were, and although I knew everything about him, the things I didn't know were making me really curious. The little things. Things that wouldn't matter to most people.

Like his favorite song.

"Hmm." My boyfriend slid his arms around my waist. He looked like he was really thinking of a good answer to this question. "There _was_ a song that came to mind when you asked me that."

"What would that be?"

"It came out when I was… about… five." He looked up while he thought. "The song didn't make much sense to me when I was that little, but it sounded pretty and profound. I loved it." He rubbed my back a bit. Probably subconsciously. "I recognized it immediately whenever it came on the radio. And it was a really popular song. Like they never stopped playing it. I even hear it now every once in a while. But it makes a lot more sense to me since I'm older."

"What is it?" I asked him.

"Wonderwall. By Oasis." He told me simply.

For a minute, I didn't recognize the name - then a little line from it popped into my head. _There are many things that I would like to say to you but I don't know how._

"I know that song." I said. "That's really your favorite? Something mushy and bittersweet like that?" Why was I not surprised?

"Mhmm." Axel chuckled. I couldn't hear his little laugh over the music, but I could see it. "You asked."

"I'm not complaining. I was curious." I informed him with a smile.

"And do you, dear Roxy, have a favorite song of your own?"

I blushed. I knew my answer. "Here in Your Arms by HelloGoodbye."

My boyfriend's face brightened. I pressed my head against his chest. I briefly could see us happy and singing again. If only every day could be like that moment. Without the drama.

I'm sure the two of us looked weird in a crowd of people who were gyrating their hips against each others to songs that made no logical sense when you listened to the lyrics, and we were just standing there hugging.

He pulled away from our embrace the second some rave type song came on. I didn't recognize it but it was electronica, and Axel's face lit up. "This was on my old DDR game!" He started dancing to it and I tried so hard not to be mesmerized by his damn sexy hips.

"Roxy. Move. This is not a song that you just stand and listen to." He giggled, before grabbing my hands and forcing me into looking like the rest of the horny crowd we were in.

It was funny. I wasn't blushy at all. In fact, I was having fun. I wasn't nervous. I suddenly wondered why dancing ever made me so fidgety in the first place. The two of us stayed on the dancefloor through about five more songs - kissing, laughing, jumping, and dancing - before we decided we definitely needed a drink.

We ended up at the bar with Demyx, Sora, Riku, Cloud, Leon, Xion, and Hayner. I knew Axel loved grabbing a straight shot whenever he came here. He got something, I'm not sure what it was - I wasn't listening. I watched him swallow it down and he cringed briefly for a moment. He sat down on one of the stools. I stayed standing.

"I've been wanting that for the past two days…" He muttered to me.

I let out a sigh and rested my hand on his leg.

"Why the past two days?" Asked Cloud.

Damn him and his freakishly perfect hearing! How could he hear that with such ridiculously loud music blaring?

"Uh, just, busy." My boyfriend responded before ordering another drink. I was relieved that Yuri wasn't working.

Cloud gave him a curious look but didn't press further. The guy usually kept to himself and we respected that - so he did the same for the rest of the group. The only person Cloud would open up to was Leon, after Zack had left him for some gorgeous older girl named Aerith a while back. We thought Cloud would never get over him - until Leon came along.

"Oh… that reminds me. How come I saw you going into Slip's house the other day, Roxas?" Hayner spoke up, the tone of his voice was a challenging one.

I swallowed.

Oh crap.

"I was at Pence's house. Haven't seen him in a while and all. We were just driving down Apple to go pick up some McDonald's and I saw you go in…" He continued.

I cleared my throat, acting as calm as possible. Axel was just staring at us, looking a little lost.

"Um, how do _you _know Slip?" I asked Hayner.

"My _ex_-dealer got stuff from him." Hayner informed me.

I cringed a bit as Sora looked at me with wide eyes. "Dealer? What?"

"Roxas! I know you're going through a rough time, but you don't have to resort to drugs to make yourself feel bet-" Demyx began, but I cut him off.

"Demyx! I'm _not_ doing any drug related things!" I shouted.

Axel was tense at this point but said nothing. He rested his hand on my hand that was still on his leg.

"Then why were you there? It was _really _late at night. Which was why I was going to McD's. Only place open at such a crazy time." His words were full of his well known attitude.

"I just needed to talk to him about something." I told him.

All of our friends were looking at me now.

"Did you know about this, Axel?" Hayner asked my boyfriend, tilting his head to the side.

Axel nodded. "Yeah." He sounded cool and collected, like he knew and it was no big deal. I could tell he really didn't want them finding out about this whole situation any more than I did.

"Hmm. How come you weren't with him?" Hayner inquired.

I bit my lip. How I wanted to hit that little douche… so badly.

"I felt like being home. I don't need to follow Roxy _everywhere _you know." Axel answered.

I saw Xion roll her eyes, "Bull. You're with him _everywhere_."

Axel sighed. "Hey Xion, your hair looks like shit."

She pouted and looked away. Her one new sensitive spot was her hair. If it was brought up - she would immediately sulk.

"But, Roxas, how would you even know a guy like that?" Sora had huge puppy-dog eyes. He looked worried and I felt awful.

"Sora. I'm not doing drugs. It's just some little thing. Don't worry about it. _EVERYTHING'S COOL_." I told him. "Trust. Me."

"Okay." He replied simply with a nod.

"Thanks." I smiled at him.

"Hey. Guys. I used to deny I was doing drugs, remember? You all believed _me_? I say he's lying." Hayner said, eyebrows knitted.

I huffed. "I'M NOT-"

"That's because _you_ are a lying piece of shit. I 'believed' you so that I wouldn't have to deal with it! But if Roxy here says he doesn't do it - he doesn't do it." Demyx butted in and grinned at me.

Sometimes, I love Demyx.

Even though he used to like Axel.

But I'll put that in the past.

Hayner scoffed. "I still don't know why you would be there, Roxas. It makes no sense. Something's up. I wanna find out what it is."

"It's none of your _damn_ business!" I yelled at Hayner, frustrated out of my mind.

"Hey, Hayner…" Axel interrupted, his voice smooth.

Both Hayner and I turned our attention toward him.

"What?"

"Did your dealer… sorry. _Ex_-dealer ever get caught for selling to you? It's really quite a big… dilemma if you're selling to a minor." Axel's words were stiff. "All I know is that you were caught _with _the drugs."

"…" Hayner blinked. "I don't know. Unless someone ratted him out for some reason." He was mumbling now and I wondered if Hayner had actually befriended his dealer and was worried about him.

Then I saw the look on Axel's face.

And I got it.

"Holy… Shit." I whispered, my voice inaudible to everyone else I'm sure.

The look on Hayner's face was painful.

Damn.

Sora, Riku, Demyx, Leon, Cloud, Xion, and even Zexion were all staring at the three of us now - completely confused and concerned.

"You fucking son of a bitch…" Axel mouthed darkly to Hayner.

Demyx, the comedian, "Hey. Mommy's not a-"

"SHUT UP DEMYX!" Sora and Riku both shouted at Sitar Man simultaneously.

"What's going on, exactly?" Leon asked, quiet but serious.

Neither Axel nor I answered. Hayner began looking everywhere but at Axel.

"It's all _your _fucking fault! It was him wasn't it? My fucking brother?" My boyfriend lunged at the sandy blonde with camo pants - punching him in the side of his face with a heavy sound. "Tell me everything you fucking know!"

I bit down on my lip. The look on everyone's faces was too much for me. They were left in the dark and I barely understood anything myself.

"Calm the hell down, psycho! Did he really get caught?" Hayner was flinching from the pain in his face, but he really did look surprised at this information. "Because of _me_?"

"I am so _sick_ of this _fucking shit_!" Axel's emerald eyes looked wild with rage.

I stayed frozen in place. Silent.

"_Yes_. He got caught because of _you_. Someone _did_ rat on him! All he told me was that he had gotten caught for selling to a minor but _fuck_." The redhead was rambling and hissing constant swears. "He knew I knew who you were. That's why he didn't fucking tell me. He knew I'd _kick your ass_."

"He begged me not to tell you." Hayner said. "I didn't think much of it. He said you had no idea about the stuff he was doing but he needed the money. And he was helping out a friend. And he was the cheapest around! I was a pretty broke kid… and… Jesus, I can't believe he got ratted out after all that time!"

Sora's eyes were the size of saucers. "Reno… what?" He asked.

"I didn't know til last month." Axel told Sora - voice empty of emotion.

I grabbed Axel's arm and pulled him closer to me. I hated Hayner, but I rather the two of them not get into some huge ridiculous fight and get us kicked out - possibly for good since we were quite obviously underage.

My boyfriend continued, "When he called from the slammer. Telling me he'd be in for a year, and that was under certain circumstances and 'good behavior'. But I looked it up and our state says he should be in there for _three_ years."

Sora put one of his hands over his mouth.

"Shit." Hayner said stupidly.

"And what the hell do you mean about him helping a friend?" Axel asked, turning again towards my ex who he just punched.

"…I don't know myself." He replied. "Although I know it was _Slip_."

"Worthless piece of crap…" My boyfriend hissed under his breath. I squeezed his arm. He didn't respond to me. It made me nervous.

Axel theatrically kicked over the stool he had been sitting on, making heads turn. "I need to go talk to Reno. Now."

I rubbed his arm, and tried to coax him into relaxing. "Axel… it's late. You wanna just calm down for a sec-"

"NO! I don't want to fucking calm down. I want to go get the story from Reno about what the hell happened and why. I'm sick of being left in the damn dark." He interrupted me with a shout as he ripped his arm away.

I frowned. Everyone was staring at us like they didn't know us anymore. I sucked in a breath.

"Then what are you waiting for?" I asked him monotonously, handing him my keys to Kenny's heart. "Go."

Axel looked at me with confusion, his anger fading a bit. "You're not coming with me?"

"Nope." I replied simply.

I knew it was something that he had to do himself. Without me. For once.

But because Axel is Axel, he fumbled with my keys before he leaned in and gave me a little kiss on the cheek. He can't go more than five minutes without being a mush.

I clearly saw Xion roll her eyes dramatically from the corner of my eye.

"_SOMEONE…" _I said, looking at Riku. "Will give me a ride home later. I'll see you there when you get back. Okay?"

Axel nodded and said a quick, "Bye, guys." To everyone. Besides Hayner and Xion whom he pretended did not exist.

We all watched him turn and make his way through the crowd of people.

"…None of that explains why you were at Slip's." Hayner said as soon as Axel was out of the room.

I wanted to choke the little jerk.

"Um. I was at Slip's because…" I sighed. What could I say? I said, "Because Reno's one request for Axel was to tell Slip what happened to him, in case Slip was wondering where he went… and… um… Axel couldn't bare to talk about the Reno situation with anyone. Or acknowledge that Reno had any drug dealing friends. So. I volunteered to do it for him. And… that's why he stayed home. Yeah."

Damn, I knew I was a writer for a reason. I could make up perfectly logical stories off the top of my head!

"Oh." Hayner nodded. He sounded convinced enough.

I sighed a breath of sweet relief and flagged the bartender - ordering myself a shot of gin. I damn well needed it.

* * *

**Not as exciting of a chapter as you've become accustomed to, I'm sure. Haha. Next chapter will be Axel and his brother drama mostly. I have to clear up everything you know! And soon after that - their Summer will be over. OH NOES. Can you guys believe I started writing this the Summer before last? Why am I so slow? I APOLOGIZE! :'(**

**Anyway, review. They keep me going. Even if I don't reply to them all, I'm reading them and smiling at every one. ILOVEYOUGUYS. -sniffle-**

**xox Rose Riku  
**


	16. Sixteen: Axel

**OMG. I'm back! I haven't updated since... was it October or November? Anyway. Good to be back. This chapter is probably shorter than what you would expect from someone who hasn't updated since 2010. HAHA I'M FUNNY. But yeah, no, really. I'm sorry. You guys are wonderful! It's obvious that I've been working on this story since my sophomore year in high school though - my early chapters are so crappeh. Blah. Anyway. I'm thinking we have two more chapters left of this story then I'll finally be done! Hallelujah! It's hard seeing as I'm a senior now and I have lots of homework and college stuff to deal with. Time is non existent for me some days. Plus, I have a PS3 now and tons of new games. Heh. OH AND THE NEW KINGDOM HEARTS GAME COMES OUT TOMORROW. EXCITING! 8D**

**This isn't edited. BEWARE. Also, my keys aren't working great. So you will see typos, I'm sure.  
**

**Love you guys. So much. Please review!  
**

* * *

**The Promises of Summer **

**Chapter Sixteen: Axel**

It felt really strange sitting in the driver seat of Kenny without Roxas being with me. It felt kind of good to not have him with me though - just the car and me and no one else. It was dark out, and I wasn't visible unless someone leaned on the windshield and cupped their hands around their eyes, looking in. No one could hear me or see my face - trying to read my expression and wonder what I was thinking.

I was thinking about _so many _things. I honestly didn't know a person could physically think so many thoughts at the same time. It made me jittery. My heart was racing and my palms were sweaty.

And before I could even muster the strength to even put the fucking keys in, I just rested my head on the steering wheel and tried to breathe calmly. I tried to stay still. I tried to relax.

Usually, the best thing to relax me _would _be Roxas. No one could calm me down like he could. I could feel like the world was ending and him being with me would still make me smile. But I hated it when he worried about me. I loved that he cared, but I hated feeling like I was making _him_ upset too. Not that I was one to talk - I worried about Roxas all the time. I constantly fretted over him, even when he didn't seem that upset. But I just felt so useless when he worried over _me_.

What I wanted to do was punch something. Like Hayner… again. Or a wall. I literally had to restrain myself from punching a hole in the car window. But that was such a cowardly thing to do, I realized. Hurting myself… or someone else - was just stupid and solved nothing.

Unless we're talking about Saix. Punching him is always a good idea.

But, no, I had to be calm. I had to talk to Reno without screaming. I had to talk to him without fighting. I had to hear the truth, hear him out, tell him how horrible he'd made me feel through everything, and maybe… possibly consider forgiving him.

Watching Roxas and Sora made me realize I had the same thing as them somewhere. A brother who was alive just like me - even when our parents were not. Even though Reno was a lousy, worthless bastard - he was all the family I had left. And I was the only family _he_ had left.

I sighed, and picked my head up. I couldn't wait any longer. I had to go.

So I turned the car on - and I went.

x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o

The inside of our town's little prison smelled of mildew - like an abandoned basement. I looked at the creepy dude at the front desk and asked for my brother.

"Family?" He asked me. "Actually," he added. "I can tell by the hair."

I rolled my eyes before the creepy guy lead me to Reno's cell.

"Ten minutes," Mister Creepy ordered. How could I cover everything in ten minutes?

"_Axel_?" My brother shrieked in a high pitch voice.

I watched as the guy who lead me in walked out. I thought they never let people have private conversations in prisons - but I guess I was wrong. Or maybe they just didn't give a flying fuck here.

Before I could reply, he started talking a mile a minute. "So the little guy did it? Roxas got you out? You're okay? Oh, thank God. I've been worried sick. Axel! I'm so sorry! You can't even begin to understand. I don't know how any of this happened. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so-"

"_Shut up!_" I shouted. "Good God, Reno."

I looked him over. He'd gotten so much thinner since I'd seen him last - if that was even possible.

"I'm fine," I told him. "Roxy got me out. No thanks to _you_. Did you know that he had to use all of his college savings? His parents have been putting a thousand dollars in there every year since he was like… four."

"…I know. God. I didn't mean for any of this to happen." Reno admitted as he dropped his head in shame.

"…And I talked to Hayner." I added.

"Oh _God_," he whined. "God. Axel. I'm _sorry_."

"What the fuck were you thinking?" I asked. "I'm being serious, Reno. I need to know what the hell were you thinking when you started selling pot to someone I hung out with. Someone who's younger than _me_, for Christ's sake. What was going on that you couldn't tell me about?"

I tried to keep my voice as calm as possible. I really needed to understand what happened.

"And why did you owe the Turks money? And who ratted on you?" There were so many questions in my head. "And _who is Slip_?"

Reno sighed - a long, deep, heavy sigh.

I waited.

And waited.

"It's a long story. We don't have enough time." He told me.

"Reno. I'm not waiting anymore. Tell me what you can."

"Okay." He sighed. "Someone at work, about three years ago - not too long after we came to this town - knew that I was having serious financial trouble because of… everything that happened."

I nodded for him to continue.

"Well, this guy asked me how far I'd go. How much I truly needed the money. I told him I'd do anything. So he introduced me to Slip." Reno continued. "Slip is a great guy, let me just say. He's not like the Turks."

Whatever. I nodded again.

"Anyway. That's when I started… selling." He told me. "I _did_ start making a little more money. It seemed so easy to me. Slip helped me out a lot. He told me who to stay away from and who he considered 'good people'." My brother sighed.

"After almost two years, one of the 'good people'," he continued. "turned out to be very, _very_ bad."

I kept listening.

"Slip helped people out so much, and for some reason - this asshole didn't like it. When Slip fell a little behind on paying this guy back for something…" Reno licked his lips. "You see, in this type of 'business' everyone does a little borrowing and trading and selling and buying from each other." He blinked. "Anyway, he was just a little behind - and this guy freaked out. He said he wanted it back with interest - a ridiculously unfair amount of interest - or Slip's girl would get hurt."

I bit my nails.

"I had to help Slip. He was in a panic. Slip was like my only friend. He'd helped me so much. I wasn't financially well, but I was better than I would have been if Slip had never helped me to begin with," he said. "So… we had some time. Much more than Roxas was given to get the money for _you_. But we were still desperate. _I _was desperate. I'd sell to anyone who'd buy it. I'd buy from any dealers who sold for the cheapest - which happened to be the ones who'd screw me the most over… like those damn Turks."

I heard a noise from behind me and I turned around. "Time's up." Mister Creepy told me.

I put on my most innocent Axel face. "Sir, I haven't talked to my brother in a while. We really need to talk about some things. We're not bothering anyone."

"…Fine. Fifteen more minutes. Then you're done." Mister Creepy decided before leaving again.

"Nice one," Reno told me. "You learn from the best."

"What? How to lie?" I hissed.

My brother frowned, then continued with his story. "So Hayner was one of them. I knew you hung around him. I knew he'd been dating Roxas. I figured he'd cooperate with me. I told him to tell no one. I told him not to share with a soul. I told him to never, _ever_ tell you. I sold to him for pretty cheap - so he kept coming back. I needed the money. For Slip. For you."

I sucked in a breath and leaned against the wall behind me.

"But things got crazy. Time ran out. Slip's girl - they killed her."

I gasped a little.

I couldn't help feeling awful.

"And that asshole. The one that had her killed. He still took our money. _ALL OF OUR MONEY_." Reno whined. "I had screwed myself over."

I folded my arms.

"To top it all off - I'd heard Hayner had been found out by his parents. Sent to juvey. Although they never found me…" Reno mumbled. "I just didn't have any money. I could barely keep us going, let alone pay everyone that I had borrowed from back. I was screwed. I knew one of them would come for me soon. I didn't think they'd tattle about Hayner. But that's what they did. They fucked me over. Now I'm here."

My brother rubbed his hand over his face. "I'm here and I've ruined things for a lot of people. I am so sorry, Axel. Seriously. I never meant for anyone to get affected by this." He swallowed hard. "Are you going to be okay until I get out?"

"Yes," I answered quietly. "Roxas is with me. He's helping."

"Probably more than I ever did," he whispered.

I didn't answer him. But it was true.

I studied him - he was lanky and pale. His hair seemed to have gotten longer and redder. His green eyes looked like they were turning gray. His fingernails were dirty. He looked like a wreck.

I suddenly didn't hate him so much.

"By the time I'm out," Reno told me. "You'll be out of high school."

"I should be out _now_," I reminded him.

"Yeah, but it's not like it's your fault. Your grades would have been better if I didn't make you work out of school so much."

I looked away. "It's not like you really had a choice."

"I'm sorry, Axel." He said to me.

"…I know." I replied.

"Are you ever going to forgive me?" He asked. "Not that I deserve it."

"Maybe." I told him. "I don't _hate_ you anymore, at least."

"Oh _that's _good." Reno laughed a little.

"Does it suck here?" I asked him.

"Hell yes it does." My red-headed sibling admitted. "But it's what I get for being an idiot. I should be lucky that they made a deal with me to let me out two years less than I was supposed to get out. I do have to do like four hundred hours of community service when I get out though."

"Holy shit." I said.

"Yeah." Reno nodded. "I'll live though. You know? People always do when shit happens."

He had no idea how much I agreed with that statement.

"So you got the balls to tell Roxas, huh?" My brother smirked.

I blushed and rubbed the back of my head. "Uhh… yeah."

"How's _that_ going?"

I smiled. "The only thing that isn't shitty right now."

"Good to hear. You should have seen him when the Turks had ya. He looked bonkers. Kid's crazy about you." My sibling winked.

I rolled my eyes, trying not to look embarrassed although I felt my cheeks heat up.

"His parents really…?"

I nodded, frowning.

"Poor kid."

"You have no idea," I said to him. "This whole thing with you and those crazy druggies who _kidnapped_ me does _not help the situation_."

"…I know, Axel." He really sounded sorry. "Look. It's over. I owe no one else money. I'll be here for a pretty long while - but then I'm never going to do any stupid shit like this again. I promise."

"You really gotta go now, Ginger." The voice of Mister Creepy jumped me. I hadn't heard him enter the area.

He had some nerve, calling me Ginger.

"I'll… visit once in a while Reno. Call me if you want." I said. I wouldn't let myself regret those words. "I'm not sure I can forgive you yet. But you're the only family I have left."

"…Love ya, kid." Reno said to me. A tiny smile on his face. I suddenly felt like I'd miss him. But this was how things had to be. Besides - my boyfriend and I's lives had been in jeopardy because of his stupidity. Roxas had to lose some of his _future_. Even if Reno was allowed to go home - I don't think I'd be able to live a normal life with him. For a while.

"See ya," I smirked and threw him a little wave as I turned away. I wouldn't tell him I loved him, either. Looking at him still felt like looking at betrayal if betrayal had a face.

x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o

"Baby…" I cooed in my lover's ear when I'd gotten home. Roxas looked like he'd fallen asleep on the couch waiting for me.

"Roxy," I purred as I touched his cheek lightly. "Wake up."

His eyes twitched. He looked so cute. He licked his lips with his little, pink tongue before he began to open his eyes all the way. "Hey…" He murmured, he sounded groggy.

Roxas sat up, straightening himself. I plopped down next to him. "You can go to bed," I told him. "I just don't want you sleeping on the couch. Your back might get sore." I said as I massaged his shoulder.

He rubbed his eyes and yawned. "Nah," he told me. "I want you to tell me how it went." My blondie smiled.

"It's a long story, Baby. You look like you're gonna pass out. I can tell you tomorrow."

"Nooo," Roxas whined. "Just tell me." He perked up. "I'm wide awake, see?"

I chuckled. "Fine, fine."

"Good. Let's hear it."

So I told him the story. Word for word of what my brother had told me. Roxas watched me intently with his baby blue eyes. He stayed silent and listened.

When I was done. He looked at his lap.

"Wow." He muttered.

"I know." I told him.

"How do you feel about all this?" He asked me with concern as he started rubbing my thigh.

"I don't know what to think, really." I said honestly. "I mean I feel bad for Reno. He didn't mean for any of this to happen. I get that. But…" I held my breath for a minute before letting it slowly out my mouth. "I just don't see why he resorted to doing something like that in the first place. Selling pot. What was he thinking? He knew it was a bad idea."

My boyfriend just nodded as he continued to rub my leg.

"I'm sorry I freaked out at the club earlier. I was just so freaked out about Hayner." I apologized.

"It's okay, Axe. I know how your temper can get." He winked at me.

"Can all of this just end now, please?" I asked, looking up at my ceiling. I was talking to God. Or whoever. Not that I believed in God. But I was just getting so annoyed with everything. I kind of wanted someone else to be controlling my destiny so I could just ask them to _please stop_ fucking with me and Roxy.

"I forgot what normal life feels like." My boyfriend confessed. "Nothing feels the same. Not clubbing or goofing around with friends or even playing Mario Kart."

"I know, Baby." I said. "I know."

My blondie sighed.

"We'll live though," I told him. "People always do when shit happens."

Quote via big brother.

"You're right." Roxas stated.

"Aren't I always?" I teased.

He ignored my teasing. "So… did Reno tell you that we should watch out for any psychos who may try to kidnap you?" He asked half joking and half serious.

"He said that's it." I informed him.

"_Thank GOD_." Roxas sighed a sigh of relief. "I can't deal with anything else. I just _can't_."

"Hey, Roxas?" I questioned. "What's Sora gonna say when he finds out your college funds are gone?"

"I have no idea." I said. "I've been thinking about that myself. I have no idea what I'm going to say."

"Great." I mumbled.

"I won't worry about it right now."

"Okay."

"I'm tired," He whispered to me in a sleepy voice.

"I know. Work tomorrow and all. Let's go to bed." I said, standing up. I felt his hand fall off my leg.

I scooped him up in my arms quickly, making him squeal. "Axel! No. Put me down!"

I ignored his please and plopped him down on the bed, jumping in with him. I pulled the covers over us and pulled him as close to me as our bodies would allow before reaching over and shutting the light off.

"You… are the only good part of this Summer." I mumbled against his chest. "I remember… I used to think you would never fall for me. I thought I'd always be too afraid to let you know how I felt."

Roxas pried one of my hands off his body and squeezed it.

"The night your parents died, I just…" I whispered into him. Just needed him to know. Know that I cared. Know that I was so, so glad it wasn't him.

"I know, Axe." He whispered back.

"Sorry I'm so constantly sappy. You must be getting tired of it." I chuckled nervously.

Roxy giggled. "Never. Don't apologize."

I smiled into his shirt.

"I looooveee you." He told me in a sing-song voice.

"I looooveee you more." I tee-hee'd back to him. "Things are gonna start getting better, Baby. I promise."

"You promise a lot of things, Axel."

"…I _promise." _I repeated.

I felt him start running his thumb over my fingers until I fell asleep.

* * *

**That was like... all dialogue. Very short. BUT PLEASE REVIEW. I'll update as soon as I can. I love you guys. **

**xox Rose  
**


	17. Seventeen: Roxas

**Whoa. She randomly updated. It's been centuries. How y'all been? I missed you my lovelies, and after many complaints - I know you've all missed me. Well, not ME personally. But my story. **

**Anywho, the next chapter will be the F I N A L C H A P T E R. Holy shit, right? I started writing this in May of 2009. I'll finish it May of 2011. Crazyshitdude. Please, please review. I will love you all forever and ever and ever. Next chapter I will also post a list of EVERY SINGLE PERSON WHO REVIEWED THIS STORY. Because you're all so damn amazing and kept me going. So if you're reading and haven't yet reviewed - NOW IS YOUR CHANCE TO BE NOTICED. XD **

**Blah, this chapter took me like, a month to write. Seriously. I dunno why. Had a bad case of writer's block. But it's here. It's overdue. And you should forgive me.  
**

* * *

**The Promises of Summer**

**Chapter Seventeen: Roxas**

"I can't believe school starts in a _week_," I mumbled a complaint into Axel's hair. He was facing me and his head was nestled into my neck, my arms were wrapped around his shoulders tightly. The only thing covering us was his blanket that I desperately wanted to swap out for a simple sheet because I was feeling _way _too hot to be underneath a blanket, but I was lazy enough that I knew I'd just leave the blanket be.

My boyfriend ran his fingers up and down one of my arms rhythmically. "I know," he groaned. "Shoot me now."

Axel didn't realize he probably shouldn't joke about that.

"I think we can handle it," I chuckled.

"We didn't really have much of a Summer, did we?" He asked me.

"…That's an understatement," I replied.

The red-head sighed and snuggled into me more. "I think I've started getting used to everything though. You know?"

I nodded slightly, feeling his hair tickle my cheek. "Yeah. I know. I don't feel like my life is _over_ anymore."

"Which is definitely progress." My boyfriend looked up at my face and gave me a half smile. He caressed my cheek. "I'm just glad to not see you waking up in the middle of the night in tears anymore."

I frowned and closed my eyes, leaning my head back against the pillow completely. He and I had never talked about that - which I was thankful for - so I didn't want to start. "And I'm glad to see you talking to your brother once in a while without punching a wall."

"Ha." Axel moved his head down so that he wasn't facing me anymore. I felt him nuzzle into me again and leave a kiss on my collar bone. "I guess I've progressed a bit too, then."

"You're gonna actually graduate this year with me, right?" I giggled, changing the subject a bit.

"Oh shut up, Blondie. Of course I will." He smacked my arm that was still wrapped around him.

I laughed, opened my eyes again and kissed his forehead. "Hey, no hitting you jerk."

"Sorry, Babe," he apologized quite insincerely.

"Suuure you are."

"I wouldn't lie to you," Axel teased. He wrapped an arm completely around my torso and squeezed me. "I love you."

"I love you too." I removed one of my arms from around him and slid it down the arm he'd just wrapped around me. "I'd love you more if you could help me think of something to say to Sora about my college funds…" I sighed.

"Aw, Baby, you think you should just tell him the truth?"

"No," I answered quickly.

"Well, what else _can _you say?"

"I can say… um…" I growled. "I can't say anything."

"He doesn't have to find out right away. Wait til towards the end of the school year and tell him. That way there's more space between… the stuff that happened with your house… and what happened with the Turks… and it won't hit him as hard," Axel suggested.

"I guess I'll just stick with that plan for now," I decided. "Maybe I'll be able to think of an excuse by then."

"If you're lucky," my boyfriend pointed out.

I exhaled long and heavy. "I'm tired. Let's just go to sleep okay?"

"Course, Roxy," he agreed. He snuggled against me again and pulled the blanket over us more. He kissed my cheek. "Don't worry to much about it. The hard parts are over, okay?"

o . o . o . o . o . o

…I woke up to the sound of Axel's voice. But it wasn't directed at me.

"Sure, Demyx. You know it will be fine right?" Axel's voice was filled with concern, which made me nervous. What could possibly happen now?

"Oh great," my boyfriend groaned into the phone while looking at me. "You made me wake Roxy up."

He was sitting in bed next to me up straight. I'd seen he had thrown some boxers on, but nothing else. He put his hand over the receiver and whispered to me, "Sorry, Babe. It's Demyx. Didn't mean to wake you up."

"What's going on?" I asked him nervously. "Is everything okay?"

"Well…" The red-head started but then blinked at the phone. I could hear Demyx whining about something. He removed his hand from the receiver. "_Yes_, I'll let you tell him." A sigh left his lips and he rolled his eyes as he handed the phone to me.

"Everything okay, Dem?" I asked him.

Mullet-Brain whined a little. "No," he sniffed. "Zexion's parents booked his flights before Summer even started and, and…" His breath hitched. "We thought he had almost another week but his flight actually leaves for tomorrow. I just found out and I don't know what to do. I can't let him leave."

I sighed. I felt bad for Demyx. I really did. I'd hate it if Axel was the one jumping on a plane and leaving. But he was making it sound like it was the end of the world - which seemed so crazy after all I'd been through in just a few months.

"Demyx… have you tried asking him if he wants to stay here? Neither of you are kids. You can make your own decisions," I said.

"Well…" I heard him sniffle again. "No, but…"

"So just ask him," I stated.

"I can't just ask him that! Are you crazy? We've been together barely two months!"

"…And yet you feel like you do about him, right? So it wouldn't be so crazy if he felt the same. Maybe he wants to stay but is too afraid to ask," I suggested. Though I truly couldn't picture Zexion being afraid. He never showed emotion.

"You think so?" Demyx's voice picked up.

Axel leaned over and whispered, "I'm gonna make us coffee," with a smile. I just grinned back at him before watching him drag himself out of bed and glide into the living room/kitchen.

I spoke to Demyx again, "Yeah. I think so. Or maybe, if you really can't stand the idea of being apart from him and he doesn't want to stay here - you could go stay with him?"

Sitar Man was quiet for a moment. Clearly he hadn't had this idea yet. "But. I mean. It's _tomorrow_."

"Yeah? And? You could always tell him to wait a few weeks or a few months for you if you're not ready just yet. Or vice versa."

"Do you really think I should talk to him about all of this? He's headed over to my house in a few minutes…" Mumbled Demyx.

"Worth a shot. He's leaving tomorrow. So I'd do _something_," I told him.

"…Okay. Thanks, Roxas." It was weird, hearing him so serious. Kinda freaky.

"No problem. Let me know how it goes."

We said our good-byes and hung up after that. I let out a little sigh as I saw my boyfriend coming in the room with two cups of coffee in his hands.

I took mine from him and chugged it down immediately. I needed my morning pick-me-up. It was scalding and bitter, but it jolted me awake.

"So, our Demyx is growing up," Axel started. "He found someone who's actually more than just a play thing to him." He took a sip of his coffee and I watched his Adam's apple bob as he swallowed. He made the simplest things look so sexy.

"Yeah. But so did you," I remarked, smirking.

He blushed and I swear, giggled, then nodded. "Yeah, but two _months_ ago. Demyx is a late bloomer. Plus, besides, I only had play things because the one I wanted didn't know I wanted him yet."

I inched over to him and pecked him on the lips. He grinned. I felt my stomach flip-flop.

We looked at each other for a few seconds. He took my coffee from my hands and placed it on the nightstand next to his bed along with his own coffee, before attacking my lips with his own. I giggled against his mouth as we kissed each other hungrily. It was like we could never, ever get enough of each other.

My boyfriend started pressing me down into the bed, leaning over me. I could feel his hot breaths on my face every time we briefly broke apart and I ran my hands over his warm chest.

I moaned when he pressed his tongue deeper into my mouth. I wanted him badly.

But then my stupid phone rang.

Stupid…

Stupid…

_Stupid_…

PHONE.

I was going to ignore it as I saw my boyfriend break away from my body and growl at it, but I decided to just check the caller ID.

It was Sora.

I sighed. "It's my brother," I told him. "Just one sec."

The red-head groaned and plopped against my chest with a huff. I tangled a hand through his hair and massaged his scalp as I greeted my brother nicely. "What?" I barked.

"Hello to you too, Baby Brother," Sora laughed. "Am I… interrupting something?"

I decided to be blunt. "Yes."

"Ooh, Roxas," he teased in a sing-song voice. "I won't keep you long then. You and Ax wanna hang out? Riku's parents are out of town for the next couple days and so we were thinking we could throw an end of Summer party type thing we just the gang, some video games, movies, and Riku's parent's liquor cabinet!" Sora squealed happily.

I held the phone to my chest. "Ax, you wanna go to a party at Riku's with the gang?" I asked. I wanted to go.

Axel nodded against my chest.

"Alright, we're in," I said. "When do you want us over?"

I heard Sora talking to his boyfriend for a moment before replying to me. "Couple hours?"

"Couple hours?" I mirrored.

Axel groaned.

"Yes. We're ordering pizza for lunch. You realize it's already eleven, yes?" Sora chuckled at me.

"Fine. We'll be there," I sighed. "Can I hang up now?"

"Yes, Roxas. Have fun. Don't be too tired when you get here," Sora laughed into the phone before hanging up on me.

I tossed my cell to the other side of the bed. "I have a plan." I told him.

"Yes?" He asked, intrigued. He looked up at me.

"We only have two hours to get to Riku's. So since we both have to get ready, why not save time and just… take a shower _together_?" I felt my face heat up as I stared down at him.

My boyfriend's face lit up and he bolted from where he was resting. "I'll race you."

I laughed hard as I chased after him. It was gonna be a good day.

For once.

o . o . o . o . o . o

I took a bite of possibly the best tasting pizza ever. Spinach alfredo. Freaking delicious.

Anyway, everything was feeling _better_ to me for the first time since the last day of school. I felt optimistic; happy. I kept laughing harder than I'd laughed in so long. My body was still buzzing from all the _ahem_, "affection" I'd been getting from Axel over the past few days. We'd been going at it more frequently since things had started to become normal and more calm. Plus, school was starting soon so we were getting antsy and wanted to make the most of our final Summer days.

But also, I just felt so good and relaxed. There wasn't a heavy feeling in my heart like there'd been for weeks and weeks and I was suddenly feeling the light-ness. So much tension was gone from my body and I felt like a part of me had been freed.

Granted, things weren't perfect. But they were _good_. To me? That was _great_.

"Can you guys _believe _school starts in a week?" My brother asked us all - me, Axel, Riku, Demyx, Zexion, Cloud, and Leon. Kairi, Namine, and Xion skipped out to go to the freaking mall claiming they were sick of hanging out with boys while Hayner was actually hanging out with _Seifer_.

Nope. I wasn't kidding.

Yes, I said Seifer.

"Well for Roxas, Riku, Axel, and I." Sora pointed out at the others with a sheepish grin.

"Can people stop bringing that up!" Axel hissed as he shoved more pizza in his mouth.

"I'm kind of excited," I admitted truthfully. New year. New things to occupy my mind. A new start.

"So am I," Sora said.

"I could care less," sighed Riku. "It's just another pointless year of learning pointless things," he said. "But at least I get to be with you!" The silverette added, cuddling his boyfriend who had given him a death glare.

I looked from Riku and Sora to Demyx and Zexion. The couple was quiet. Well, Zexion I suppose was talking about as much as he usually does… but when Demyx hasn't uttered so much as a single word - you know shit's going down. They couldn't have been fighting though because their fingers were entwined.

I wondered if Demyx had started talking to Zexion about the moving issue. Either he had and it hadn't gotten anywhere or had gone wrong, _or _he hadn't had the balls to do it and so he was still feeling like he did when he had called earlier - unsure of what to do.

He'd barely eaten anything either.

I shoved my crust in Axel's mouth. I never ate the crust - but he always did. "Hey Dem…" I said. "You should… help me… get refills… for everyone in the kitchen."

I got a few strange looks, especially from Riku seeing as it was _his_ house and _his _parent's alcohol. But I made it obvious that I just wanted to talk to Demyx. I was nervous he'd start acting like an idiot and have no idea why I'd want him to help me get everyone refills… but I don't think he even thought about it at all. Just a little nod before letting go of Zex's hand and standing up to follow me out to the kitchen.

Thankfully, Axel killed the tension by squeezing by butt on the way out - causing everyone to laugh at him. Or me. Whatever. Just laughing at my expense I guess.

The second Demyx and I were in the kitchen I started talking to him. "Did you tell Zexion how you feel?"

"Yes," said Demyx quietly.

"…Oh. So… he didn't want to stay?" I asked, immediately feeling bad.

"No."

"He didn't want you to go live with _him_?"

"No."

I bit my lip. While I usually thought it'd be a miracle that Dem-Dem was quiet - I felt terrible just seeing the look on his face. I'd never seen him so… so not-hyper.

"What _did _he say?" I questioned as I started grabbing some beers.

"He said…" Demyx took a shaky breath. "He said staying with each other wasn't _logical_. Apparently the thought was _ludicrous _to him."

"I take it you're quoting his words."

"Yes. What does ludicrous mean?" Asked the sandy blonde like a confused child.

I just sighed. "That sucks."

"It does." I heard Demyx sniffle.

Oh gosh. I could not deal with Sitarist tears.

He spoke again. "I told him it was fine. To forget what I said. To just make this last bit of time as good as it's been all Summer…" I heard a sob escape him.

I turned around and set the alcohol on the counter and Demyx lunged at me, hugging me. I blinked but hugged him back. It felt a little weird, especially since I could immediately feel his tears soaking through my shirt. I awkwardly patted his back.

"I'm completely in love with him! What am I going to do? This was just a fling to him! He doesn't love me." Mullet-Brain sniffled and squeaked into my shirt. I didn't know what to do to calm him down.

I opened my mouth to speak, but I heard the floor creak near the doorway to the kitchen. I looked up and saw Zexion standing there shyly. His presence surprised me so I shoved Demyx away and grabbed the drinks. "So uh… hehe… guess you guys wanna talk in here. I'll just be on my way!"

I saw Demyx wiping his face frantically. He was blushing wildly, embarrassed as hell. I felt his pain. I wondered how long Zexion had been standing there.

I was going to just head back to the living room and let them be - but I was slightly buzzed and interested in the situation. _So_ I hid by the door where they couldn't see me and attempted to listen in.

I stood as still as I could so that the beverages wouldn't clink together. I had to hold them all in my arms and not make a single movement.

"H-how long were you standing there, Zex?" Demyx asked, his voice sounding a little whiny.

Zexion's voice was quieter, but I could still hear him. I could tell he had walked closer to Demyx. "Long enough."

I briefly wondered if Zexion had actual facial expressions around Demyx.

"U-um…" Mullet-Brain muttered.

Yes. Demyx. Unsure of what to say. Must be 2012.

The next thing Zexion said was soft, but I made it out. "I never said I didn't love you."

I tried not to giggle. This was some good entertainment. I felt better - Axel and I weren't the most obnoxiously mushy ones in the group!

I heard Demyx sniffle loudly before I heard some shuffling. I had a feeling they were hugging. I really wanted to peek, but they would totally kick my ass if I was caught.

"Do you?" Demyx squeaked.

Silence. But then I heard Mullet-Brain giggle nervously. "I love you too."

Either Zexion had said yes and I didn't hear it or he had nodded.

There was a couple more seconds of silence, then Demyx spoke again. "So then why can't we stay together?"

"…Neither of us can acquire the money to move to a new place quite so soon," answered Zexion.

"Zexy…" whined Demyx. "I'll get a job right away. It won't be so ba-"

"Demyx, both you and I are enrolled in University for the fall," added Zexion.

"I don't care about col-"

"Your education is very import-"

"_You're_ important." A sob escaped Demyx. "No one else has ever made me feel anything like you do. I can't lose you."

"Alright Demyx…" Zexion sighed.

I smiled.

"I _suppose_ we can use e-mail and telephones. We can also, if planned in advance, reunite during vacations," stated Zexion.

I rolled my eyes.

Demyx sighed heavily. "I guess. If that's all I can get. But you know. It wouldn't kill you to _not _be logical once in a while. Since when is love logical anyway? If you really cared, you would want to stay with me."

I cringed. Hopefully there wouldn't be a fight. But, of course, I couldn't see Zexion really getting _angry_. I couldn't see him getting anything.

But he was in love with Demyx, so I guess he feels _something_.

_Or_ he's clinically insane.

"Demyx," Zexion warned. "Why do you rarely ever maul over your options before making a decision? It would be much too complicated for the both of us. The distance apart for a little while certainly won't kill you."

"Well it certainly won't kill _you_," hissed Demyx bitterly.

"You know perfectly well I will miss your constant, absurd babbling and singing when we're apart. I will miss you constantly strumming at your guit-"

"Sitar," Demyx corrected.

"Sitar all night. But it won't be forever, Demyx. This really is the logical and responsible choice to make," decided Zexion - sounding like he was figuring out a word problem rather than discussing how he felt. How could _Demyx _of all people be into that? Ah well. I'm in love with a fire crotch. I shouldn't complain.

"Are you anything like your sister?" I heard Mullet-Brain ask.

"What do you mean?" questioned Zexion.

"I mean - would you chea-"

"Never," Zex replied immediately. He sounded utterly honest.

"Fine. We'll try this. If I end up completely miserable, it will be all your fault," said Demyx. I heard a tiny bit of teasing in his voice.

Then I heard a little smooch. Ew. Kissing. Didn't need to hear that.

I was ready to turn tail and head back to the living room, but…

"Are you _eavesdropping_, you naughty kitty?" asked a familiar voice.

It startled me and I squeaked, dropping two of the glass bottles in the process. The bottles shattered and the smell of alcohol filled my nose.

Before I could blink, Demyx and Zexion had come out of the kitchen and were staring at me in confusion. Axel was biting his lip, trying to hold back his laughter. Stupid dick.

"Roxas!" Demyx gasped. "Were you standing there the whole time?"

"Um. Maybe?" I said awkwardly, making Axel take the remaining bottles I was holding while I slipped in the kitchen to get stuff to clean the mess I'd made.

"Hey! I don't listen in on you and Axel!" Screeched Demyx as he followed me.

I rummaged around the kitchen for a dustpan to scoop up the shards of glass. I felt Demyx's gaze on me. As well as Zexion and Axel's.

"Sorry," I mumbled. "I was about to leave but Axel scared the _shit _out of me."

"You make it sound like it's all my fault," said Axel. I could hear the smirk in his voice.

"Everything's your fault," I teased, brightening when I saw a dustpan finally. I snatched a roll of paper towels and a trashcan and went to work outside the kitchen to clean the mess that my damn boyfriend had caused.

I was wiping up the last bits of liquid when Riku came bounding towards us all. "What the hell did you guys do? How hard is it to get some drinks?"

"Sorry!" I apologized frantically. "Axel scared me and I dropped the bottles."

"He _scared_ him because Blondie got caught eavesdropping on Zexy and I," Demyx informed Riku.

"Wow. Were you really that bored?" asked Riku.

I stuck my tongue out at him. "Actually, they were entertaining. Until I heard them start kissing."

Axel laughed and I heard Demyx huff. When I looked at him his face was beet red. Zexion was still standing there - quiet and unaffected.

"Can we just please go party? That's what we're here to do. Not stand around and act like a bunch of girls," stated my brother's boyfriend.

"Fine," I said. "But don't be comparing us to a bunch of girls Mister I-Use-A-Quarter-Bottle-Of-Conditioner-Every-Day."

"Sora told you that?" shrieked Riku in embarrassment.

"No, _you_ just did," I said, barking out a laugh. Axel and Demyx giggled at the party host and even Zexion smirked.

"Just. Go. Back. In. The. Living. Room," Riku demanded in exasperation.

"Whatever," I shrugged, snatching an unharmed bottle of beer out of Axel's hands as I headed back into the living room.

o . o . o . o . o . o . o . o . o

"Holy Mother of God," Axel groaned, leaning his head on my shoulder. "What fucking time is it?"

"Like… four. In the morning," I grumbled.

"Then why is Riku screaming?" He asked me, confused, before turning to Riku. "Shut up."

"No! I am _not_ going to shut up! Sora and I go in another room for like, what, an _hour_ and you guys _BROKE MY MOTHER'S FAVORITE CANDLE HOLDER!_"

"Well maybe you shouldn't have ditched us in such a nicely decorated house to screw your boyfriend," giggled Axel.

Axel's so cute when he's drunk. He giggles. A lot.

Riku groaned in frustration.

"It's okay, Ku! Maybe she won't notice it's broken if we glue it back together!" Sora piped up.

"Um… Sora… I love you. But you're stupid," I told my brother, leaning my head on Axel's. Riku's yelling had disrupted me when I was just about to fall asleep. Stupid jerk.

"Roxas! You're not even drunk! You never drink. All you had was like, one beer. So why didn't you stop these idiots?" Riku questioned, pegging it on me.

"I was tired. It was funny," I said simply.

Riku groaned again.

Axel giggled and nuzzled my shoulder and said, "This is why I luff my kitty."

I smirked and rubbed my cheek in his hair, laughing in my head at Riku's frustrated gesture of throwing his hands into the air.

"Demyx? Zexion? Leon? Cloud? Are you guys gonna say anything?" asked my brother's boyfriend.

Too bad Leon and Cloud were already passed out on top of each other. That left Demyx and Zexion.

"All I did was put on the radio," mumbled Demyx. The one who gets whiny and sad when he's drunk sometimes. "I liked the song. It was Elton John. So I turned it up. And I started dancing. And Axel and I made up some dance moves. And… and Zexion was sitting… and I tried to get him to get up and dance…" he pouted. "And I tugged his arms, and I fell backwards and broke the candle! I'm sorry!" Demyx's lips trembled.

"In all reality it's _Zexy_'s fault for not getting up to dance with his lonely boyfriend," smirked Axel.

Zexion sighed, "I do not dance."

"Even if your loving boyfriend is _begging_ you?" asked Axel, looking at Zexion from my shoulder and fluttering his eyelashes.

"No, it's okay. I shouldn't have made him," said Demyx with a frown.

"No, really, he never does _anything _for you," Axel said, sitting up, forcing me to stop leaning on his head.

"Axel, don't start, hun," I nudged his shoulder. "Zexion goes home tomorrow. Just leave them be."

"Well not everyone is as pathetic like you are with Roxas," Demyx sneered.

I knew Demyx was in all actuality, upset that Zexion didn't seem to do anything Demyx requested of him. But I saw Axel's face flush with anger anyway. He should know Demyx didn't mean it so personally.

"I'm not pathetic," my boyfriend told Mullet Brain defensively.

"You'd literally do _anything_ Roxas asked you to do. If he asked you to kill a guy, you'd do it. If he asked you to jump off a cliff, you'd do it," Demyx said, folding his arms.

"Can I butt in and say I would never ask anyone to kill anyone? Or jump off a cliff? K? K," I rolled my eyes.

I was ignored.

"Jesus, Demyx. I'd try to do anything to make him happy, that's all." Axel sighed. "Roxy like, never asks me to do anything for him anyway!"

"He doesn't have to. You just fawn over him all the time so he never needs anything. It's pathetic," Demyx said, narrowing his eyes.

Apparently Drunk!Demyx is also very mean. Or I should say bitter.

"He's not pathetic. If _he's_ pathetic, then I'm _beyond_ pathetic," I stated.

"Really, dude? You didn't even know he liked you for like, ever. Clearly you pay attention to his wants and feelings. Right," Sitar Man hissed at me.

I blinked and frowned. It wasn't like that. That didn't count. I'm just a clueless idiot. Axel didn't _want _me to know. He hid it well.

Axel growled. "I didn't _want_ Roxas to know. I hid it. He's always been there for me, given me rides when I needed them, wasted his _college savings_ on me for God's sa-"

"What?" Sora squeaked, looking at me.

Crap. "_Axel!_" I looked at him angrily.

Axel looked at me like a deer in the headlights, realizing what he just said. "Shit. I'm mad. I'm drunk. I didn't mean to say that. Sorry!"

I face-palmed.

"_Now_ what?" Riku huffed. "I am so confused."

"What's he talking about?" Sora questioned me again.

"And I'm still here," piped up Zexion quietly. "Just because I'm not interested in dancing does not mean I wouldn't do anything for Demyx. Dancing is silly, it doesn't count."

"My mom's candle is still broken," Riku deadpanned.

"You guys talk too much," Leon spoke up, his eyes still closed. "It makes it hard to sleep."

"I'll just explain to my mother that I bumped into it and knocked it over," Riku sighed. "Would you guys please just go to sleep? This will all pass in the morning and you won't remember a thing because you idiots, Roxas aside, are all wasted. So just shut up."

"No. What was Axel talking about, Roxas? What happened to your college savings?" Sora asked me, whimpering.

"Oh, Roxy, I'm sorry," Axel looked at me with a huge pout. "I'm so dumb. I'm sorry."

"You've been deliberately hiding something from me?" Sora asked.

I couldn't look at Sora. I didn't know what to say. I didn't blame Axel though. He didn't mean to. I could feel him grabbing at my hand nervously, making sure I wasn't made at him. I laced my fingers with his and squeezed.

"S-something happened and-" I started, not meeting Sora's eyes.

"Does this have anything to do with the whole… Reno-drug situation? With you going to that Slip-guy's house?" Demyx asked.

"Er. S-sort of?" I stammered.

"Are you doing drugs, Ax-" My brother started to ask.

"No!" I answered for Axel. "No, it was nothing like-"

"Oh, God, what the hell kind of trouble did you guys get into now? What could have possibly happened? Hasn't there been enough _shit _going on this Summer? You seem to be like a magnet for disaster, Roxas," said the silverette.

"It's over now. It's not Roxas's fault. It was my brother's. But everything's settled and done with now, okay? Can we drop it?" Axel hissed before hiccupping.

Sora squeaked, "But your college sa-"

"Did a drug dealer kidnap Axel and demand a ransom of a significant amount of money on his brother's behalf?" Zexion wondered.

Axel and I looked at him and blinked, speechless.

It was quiet and awkward for a few beats.

"…_Seriously_!" Sora, Riku, and Demyx shrieked in surprise. They all started talking at once. I heard questions of when, how, why, and what happened? They wondered why we'd never said anything. I just sighed in frustration. It was four-thirty in the damn morning and I just wanted to sleep. So much for being in an epic mood. I guess we can't win 'em all. Or more importantly, I can't win anything.

"Was it _all _your savings, Roxas?" Sora asked me, frowning like a puppy.

I nodded solemnly. "But it's okay," I said. "Trust me. It's really not the end of the world."

"Okay," Sora said to me simply, nodding.

"Sora?" Riku asked his boyfriend, curious and worried.

"Roxas can make his own decisions. If it's for Axel, and they're both safe - I don't see why this should be a big deal," said my brother. "Well, I mean, it's a big deal that apparently Axel was the victim in a _ransom_ but he's clearly okay now."

I leapt up and hugged him, letting go of Axel's hand. "Thank you, thank you for understanding! I thought you would flip at me. I don't need school. I just need my boyfriend, my brother, and my friends, so… thank you for not worrying or getting too upset!" I gushed. I was glad Sora knew. I wouldn't have to stress about it anymore.

"You guys _are _safe now, right?" The brunette asked me, hugging me back.

"Yes," Axel answered for me. "Most definitely. One hundred percent."

"Then it's okay. You can still get scholarships for college. Financial aid. Student loans. It's not that big of a deal when you think about it," Sora grinned.

I squeezed him again. "Thank you for not hating me!"

"Why would I hate you?"

"Well, I don't know. I just thought you'd freak out."

"I'd have freaked if you or Axel weren't safe, but you are!" Sora smiled again.

I squished him in my arms. Squish-squish. I loved my brother.

"Geez, Rox, get offa me," my brother giggled, shoving me off of him playfully. I plopped back down on the couch next to Axel. He took my hand again. I smiled at him.

"Oh, good, now that this is over. I don't even want to know what weird shit happened to Axel while he was _kidnapped_. So let's not talk about it. Can we all get some sleep?" Riku asked. "Come on, Sora, let's go to bed, babe." He dragged my brother and they both went in his room with no further word.

"It really was pretty boring," Axel shouted in response to what Riku had said.

Axel… it was not boring. It was _terrifying_. Idiot.

I let out an exhausted sigh. It was almost five - _in the morning_, I should add - so I was pretty damn tired. I cuddled my head on Axel's shoulder and he stroked my knuckles with his thumb.

Demyx let out a loud breath.

"I promise I'll dance with you next time if it means that much to you…" Zexion spoke up, talking to his boyfriend. He added, jokingly, "…and especially if it will save a candle-holder and an unnecessary amount of drama."

Next time? Zexion had hours before he had to leave. They wouldn't see each other until, like, Christmas break.

Mullet Brain smiled wide, letting out a chuckle as he leapt into his lover's lap, wrapping his arms around him before turning his head towards Axel and I. "I didn't mean to flip out on you guys."

"It's fine," I answered. "We're all tired. And you're drunk."

"I'm not _that_ drunk. Jeez," whined Demyx as he nuzzled his head in Zexion's neck.

"Compared to Cloud and Leon? Right," I said, gesturing with my eyes towards the couple who were passed out in front of the un-lit fire place.

"I heard that," mumbled Leon.

"He's a ninja," I decided.

Axel scoffed and started to lay back on the couch, stretching out his legs as he pulled me against his chest - forcing me to lay down with him as he spooned me.

I closed my eyes. "I say we all go to fucking sleep. Someone shut off the damn light."

"_You_ shut it off," Demyx ordered.

"No, I'm quite comfortable," I replied.

"Well, so am I," he retorted.

"You guys are such kids. _I'll _shut it off," spoke up Leon again, slipping away from his boyfriend as he ran over to the light switch. It was suddenly dark and I heard him rustling back to his spot.

"You are such a knight in shining armor, Leon," my redhead muttered sarcastically from behind me.

"Shut up," Leon snorted.

I smiled and leaned back into Axel, letting myself relax as I heard Demyx and Zexion moving around on the loveseat they were on to get comfortable. Riku had a zillion guest rooms in his house - but we all just were content with the living room. Like junior high girls at a slumber party. Yup.

And I, for one, am completely happy.

* * *

**So they found out about Axel being held hostage by the Turks! But they don't know the details. Axel has a big mouth when he's drunk. And I think Demyx is cranky because he won't see the love of his life for a while. Poor Mullet-Brain.**

**Anywho, lame chapter. But please review. I love you all. Mwah.**

**xox Rose  
**


	18. Eighteen: Axel

**This is it, my babies. I waited til today to upload the final chapter because guess what? TODAY IS THE TWO-YEAR ANNIVERSARY SINCE I UPLOADED THE FIRST CHAPTER. Yeah, this story's taken me TWO YEARS to finish. But it's reached over 100,000 words and that makes me unbelievable happy! :D**

**Now, to thank all of you LOVELY creatures. Everyone who has reviewed the past 17 chapters will be listed here:**

_Spoons, thedeviltheangelandtheme, His Last Walk, BonneNuit, foxyaoi123, Naive-Symphony, Valinda Blade, , xXJustCrazyXx, akuroku fan on fire, XxGoodGirlGoneTobixX, goodbyedecember, DarkAngelGrl22567, The Foolish Author, reddoggie, xDelfin, LoveFromSlytherin-AMLF, XloneXwriter, natcat5, kyokatlover, xXxSilverMoonxXx, SarahXxUnlovedXx, blood as soft as silk, AmarantineOct.311, AxelAnimeYaoi96, Sammy-Dee, Rachexa Chim, ., forever-waiting-here, Vanilla Twilight, StealAlone, Tsukia13, Sunset-of-youthfulness, CTL, BlackCatHikari, shawpaw12, MsSupreme, AllSheNeedsIsLove, Regidork, Strawberry Nixx, Way2DawnWiedler, Xemera, SenseiMalice, RabiesIsContagious, Alicia, Andrew Marie, BlendInTheDarkness, Lil Chiquita, Solace in Sleep, XxStrawberryCheezecakexX, Holla-Chan, Sunny Side of Cookies, _and four anonymous reviewers. **Thank you so much guys! I love you!  
**

**My newest AkuRoku chapter fic is called WORTH IT. Read it. C:**

* * *

**The Promises of Summer**

**Chapter Eighteen: Axel**

**The Ending.**

Summer is a six letter word. There are fucking _millions_ of six-letter words in the English language, but none are as happy as the word _Summer_. Summer isn't just a season (also a six letter word) but it is the only time of year people look forward to in their miserable, shitty lives. It means a break from stress and work and school. It means time to have fun. No worries. Not a damn, single one.

Can I just say… _HAHAHAHAHA_.

There is nowhere written in stone that says Summer is always fun, warm, safe, and stress-free. Summer is just another few months in the year. A few months where anything goes - just like the rest of the year. People aren't put into a safe, happy, bubble during the Summer. If only we were.

How come people are so fucking stupid? We don't realize how good we have things. Until they're gone. Or messed up. Or they're still there, but they're completely overshadowed by other terrible things that you see other people going through.

I toss an arm around my boyfriend's shoulders. He's not paying much attention to me. He's too busy laughing at his brother sticking straws up his own nose. Sora will never grow up. But maybe that's his charm. I wouldn't know. I'm too busy paying attention to his sibling; love of my life.

I lean back on my free hand, my fingers digging into the sand. Yes, we are at the beach.

We graduated a few hours ago. It's officially Summer. Our last Summer. And we're going to make it _so _much better than last Summer.

Yeah, maybe Roxas and Sora's parents weren't there to see their kids graduate. Neither were mine. But hey, I bet my mum would just be glad to know that I graduated at _all_.

Reno doesn't get out of the big house for a little while longer, but I talk to him a few times a week now on the phone. We talked today. Get this - one of the Turks is his new cell-mate. Rude. The quiet, big one. With the glasses. I wonder if they let him keep his glasses on in jail. Hmm. Well, anyway, I know this sounds weird - but they seem to get along well. I almost think my brother _likes_ him sometimes, the way he talks about him. But that'd have to be my imagination.

Besides - Rude tried to kill me once.

All of those weird thoughts aside, I was a little sad the school year was over. It went by too fast. I actually was on the honor roll all year for once. I think Roxy's been a wonderful influence on a fucknut like me. We do everything together. Work, school, life in general… and I never get sick of him. We fight or get frustrated with each other sometimes, but it's always calm. We love each other. We'll always be there for each other. That's something I'm sure of.

Things are brightening up in his world too. A lot. I'm proud of him and all that he's accomplished in a year. During the first quarter of school there were flyers everywhere about a chance to win a scholarship if any senior students looking for getting into a creative writing major. All the students entering had to do was turn in a ten-set of short stories.

Roxas gave it a shot. He entered. Weeks later, he'd gotten the call of his life. He won. Full scholarship to an arts school. He wouldn't have to pay a cent for tuition.

The thing is, it's across the country. Being as 'pathetic' as I am with him though - I'm going with him. We're gonna go on a two-week long road trip (just us and Kenny) there and find a little apartment. We've been working together on bills like rent, electricity, food, and car payments - so we've been able to save some extra money. We do everything together. We share everything. We're a team.

I'm not going to be able to go to school, but I'm content with working a full-time job while Roxy's a full-time student. I'll end up where I end up when I know what I want to do. As long as Roxas is with me, I'll figure out what I'm suppose to do with my life. And I'm just so proud that my Roxy's dreams are coming true, that I feel like mine are too. He deserves it after all he's been through.

It isn't just Roxas whose dreams are coming true. Demyx completed a full year of university as a music major, and is switching to a strictly music-curriculum school - in the town where Zexion's currently going to school. They'll both be staying in dorms, but they'll be able to be with each other all the time around their classes. And Demyx is on his way to being an amazing sitar teacher. (I'm sure there are plenty kids who want to learn sitar…I think.)

Riku and Sora are staying in the town they've grown up in. Sora doesn't want to leave - he feels like he can stay close to his parents this way. He wants to always have a part of them with him. He wants to stay with his temperamental silverette, too. They'll both be going to the local university come Autumn (another six letter word, except it doesn't cause as much emotional reaction as Summer does) and I'm sure Roxas and I will miss them. Well, we'll miss Sora.

All the adults we talk to - our teachers and bosses - tell us we're growing up; becoming adults. It's almost insulting. I feel like we had to grow up last Summer, before we should have had to. But at least we're prepared for anything now. Life can bring it on. We'll be ready.

"Axel, I just realized you didn't put any sunscreen on. I know you like the color red, but I think you'll look ridiculous if you get a burn that's the same color as your hair," said Sora to me, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"Oh shut up. You know I'm too lazy to put on sunblock," I told him with a smirk.

"Roxas, hold him down and put sunscreen on him," ordered Sora through a pair of sunglasses that were ridiculously too large for his face.

My boyfriend sighed and slipped out from under my arm.

"I _suppose_ I'll cooperate," I smirked as I watched Roxas grab the sunblock in irritation.

Yes, I have a good feeling about this Summer. For real this time.

x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o

"We haven't been here in months," my boyfriend told me as he looked around, examining the place for any major changes.

It still looked perfect to me.

"I know. We've been so busy. I'm glad we could come here before we took off," I told him.

I looked around at all the fireflies. The grass. The trees. Everything was so perfect. I was gonna miss this place. Although, I wouldn't miss some of the sucky memories I've obtained here.

But then there are the _great_ memories, which make everything better.

I pulled Roxas into my arms and hugged him tight. He wrapped his arms around me in response.

"The Summer's just starting, Ax. We can come here as much as you want to before we have to leave," he told me, looking up at me with those perfect blue eyes.

"Yeah, when we're not at work, or being dragged around to random places by your brother and his boyfriend, or passed out from exhaustion," I smirked.

"Right," he agreed with a laugh. "It's so weird our group's breaking up this Summer."

"I know. It'll be weird not having the band of idiots all together. But that's life, I guess," I replied.

"Yep. You and I are going across the country. Demyx is going pretty far away, in the opposite direction of us, to be with Zexion… and near Xion, ew. Sora and Riku are staying here with Kairi and they're all going to the local university. Namine finally found someone she can be obsessive over and she's moving about an hour away to be with him. She'll be a wife and a stay at home mom in the next year or so, I know it. Leon and Cloud moved to the next town over from here. They're working on opening up their own _gay bar_," Roxas paused to laugh. "And Kairi told me she thinks they're getting married. But that could just be her gossip."

"Seriously?" I asked, amused. "I can't see that. Cloud in a wedding dress…" I twitched at the image.

"Maybe Leon would wear the dress," Roxy wondered.

"Yeah, right…" I smirked. "Cloud's the bitch. The blondes are always the bitch. Right, Rox?" I teased.

"I would never wear a wedding dress. Ever," he snarled, but his lips were turned up in a smile.

"Not even if I asked you to? You're not gonna wear one at our wedding?" I teased some more.

"Who said we're getting married?" He rolled his eyes.

"Me," I grinned.

"Are you proposing?" He laughed, teasing me back.

"No way. You deserve a much more dramatic and embarrassing proposal," I stated.

"Dramatic and embarrassing?" He asked, tilting his head.

"You'll know what I mean someday," I winked.

He blushed and smiled. Me and Roxy? Married? I wouldn't have been able to ever see it. But now the idea seemed lovely.

I kissed his forehead. "I never get tired of seeing you blush."

He punched me in the stomach. Ow. He's so cute.

Roxas pulled away from me slightly. "Oh, did Demyx tell you…?"

"Tell me what? That he's a spazz? That his haircut is out of style? That he longs to live in a house with a mailbox that says MR. and MRS. ZEXION?"

"No. Well. The last one maybe," my boyfriend smirked. "But no. I meant about Hayner."

"What did he do now?" I asked. We hadn't seen Hayner in months. He'd been sent to another school the town over. It was basically for juvenile delinquents… but it wasn't a juvey exactly. But it's kinda like a boarding school. For troublemakers. For future criminals. Like Hayner. Not only that, but Hayner got held back a year. Ha-freakin-ha. I'm not the only one. Seifer didn't graduate with us either. Heard he dropped out or something.

"Seifer will be joining Sir Hayner at School For Complete Fuck Ups," he informed me. Fluttering his eyelashes cutely.

"Ha!" I barked out a laugh. "Priceless. I bet they'll be bed-mates in no time."

My blondie cringed and I ruffled his hair.

"Funny how things work out," Roxas said, looking up at the sky with a smile before looking at me again.

"Right?" I agreed. "So weird how things end up."

"This Summer will be better, right?" He asked me with a sad smile.

"Of course."

"No one dying?"

"No."

"No jailed brothers?"

"Well… he gets out soon," I said with a laugh.

"No kidnapping and ransoms?"

"Only if you're into that kinda roleplay," I chuckled, trying to not think of what happened last Summer.

"Har Har," Roxas laughed lightly. "No Saix showing up and being a dick?"

"Definitely not. He's scared of me now. He knows I'll knock him out. He hasn't tried to contact me once since then," I told him.

"Thank God," Roxas laughed. "Seriously though. I really can't handle anything happening this Summer."

"Well. Life is life. We'll never know. But I'll do everything I can to keep it as good for you as possible," I said with a smile.

"Why do you have to be so sweet all the time? It never ends. You could create a candy shop with the stuff you say," my boyfriend leaned up to peck my lips.

"You just bring out the mushy sap in me. And you love it," I whispered against his lips before kissing him again.

"Mhmm," he mumbled, pressing his lips into mine as he squeezed his arms around me.

The two of us just held each other, kissing in the dark, quiet space we were in. The weather was perfect and the sound of the crickets seemed to serenade us. I didn't want it to end.

"I say we go back home," Roxy pulled away from my lips to suggest breathlessly.

I purred. "Sounds good. Lemme drive. I'll drive fast," I smirked.

"Promise?" My baby giggled.

"I promise, kitty," I laughed. "Only if you promise to marry me someday," I teased again.

I didn't expect anything but a laugh. But he smiled and said simply, "I promise."

* * *

**It's been real. It's been fun. And it's been real fun. **

**xox Rose Riku  
**


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